& 


American  Jews 
and  the  War 


The  Human  Side  of  America  s 
Outpouring  of  Relief  for  the 
Suffering  Jews  of  Other 
Countries 


By  JOHN  W.  SCHMIDT 
and  CROMWELL  CHILDE 


FOREWORD 
By  ALBERT  LUCAS 

Secretary,  Joint  Distribution  Committee  of  the 
Funds  for  Jewish  War  Sufferers 


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AMERICAN  JEWS 
AND  THE  WAR 

THE  HUMAN  SIDE  OF 
AMERICA’S  OUTPOURING  OF 
RELIEF  FOR  THE  SUFFERING 
JEWS  OF  OTHER  COUNTRIES 


BY  JOHN  W.  SCHMIDT 
and  CROMWELL  CHILDE 


FOREWORD 
By  ALBERT  LUCAS 

SECRETARY,  JOINT  DISTRIBUTION  COMMITTEE 
OF  THE  FUNDS  FOR  JEWISH 
WAR  SUFFERERS 


PRICE  FIFTEEN  CENTS 


COPIES  MAY  BE  HAD  FROM  THE 

JOINT  DISTRIBUTION  COMMITTEE 

OF  THE  FUNDS  FOR 

JEWISH  WAR  SUFFERERS 

20  EXCHANGE  PLACE 


NEW  YORK  CITY 


Copyright,  1917,  By 
ohn  W.  Schmidt  and 
Cromwell  Childe. 


FOREWORD 

By  ALBERT  LUCAS 

Secretary ,  Joint  Distribution  Committee  of  the  Funds  for  Jewish  JV sir  Sufferers. 

There  came  to  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Joint  Dis¬ 
tribution  Committee  some  months  ago,  two  newspaper  men,  Mr. 
John  W.  Schmidt  and  Mr.  Cromwell  Childe,  one  of  the  editors 
of  the  Brooklyn  Daily  Eagle,  the  authors  of  this  book.  Among 
the  many  duties  devolving  upon  the  Secretary,  has  been  to  give 
to  the  public,  through  various  channels,  the  facts  as  to  the 
progress  of  the  war  relief  work  undertaken  by  the  Jews  of 
America  in  behalf  of  suffering  Jewry  in  the  war  zones  of  Europe 
and  in  Palestine. 

The  work  done  by  the  three  committees  engaged  in  raising 
funds  throughout  the  United  States,  the  American  Jewish  Re¬ 
lief  Committee,  the  Central  Committee  for  the  Relief  of  Jews 
Suffering  Through  the  War,  and  the  Jewish  People’s  Relief 
Committee  of  America,  has  centered  in  the  Joint  Distribution 
Committee,  which  has  transmitted  to  the  different  committees 
abroad  the  money  contributed  by  the  Jews  of  America  to  the  three 
committees. 

My  connection  with  the  Joint  Distribution  Committee  and 
the  cause  of  war  relief  since  its  inception,  enabled  me  to  put  at 
the  service  of  Mr.  Schmidt  and  Mr.  Childe  the  facts  they  sought. 
It  was  further  made  possible  for  them  to  come  into  close  contact 
with  the  leaders  of  American  Jewry  and  with  the  various  ele¬ 
ments  in  Jewry  which  have  gone  to  make  up  the  personnel  of 
the  three  committees  and  of  the  Joint  Distribution  Committee. 
They  have  been  enabled  to  make  an  intensive  study,  under  un¬ 
usually  favorable  circumstances,  both  of  war  relief  work  in  its 
larger  aspects  and  of  the  personal  characteristics  of  the  leaders 
in  Jewish  war  relief,  no  less  than  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  men 
and  women  who  have  contributed  to  its  success. 

This  book,  which  came  unsolicited  from  their  pens,  is  the 
result  of  their  observations.  I  vouch  for  the  accuracy  of  the 
basic  facts  contained  herein.  Upon  the  authors’  conclusions  and 
the  flattering  estimate  they,  as  non-Jews,  have  made  of  the 
Jewish  character,  I,  of  course,  make  no  comment. 

As  Secretary  of  the  Joint  Distribution  Committee,  however, 
I  take  pleasure  in  commending  this  little  volume  to  American 
Jewry.  It  is  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  cause  in  which  we  are 
all  so  deeply  concerned.  I  believe  that  it  will  give  those  readers 
who  are  not  of  our  faith  a  new  and  different  light  upon  the 


PREFACE 


There  has  been  much  of  distinctly  human  interest  in  the 
achievement  of  American  Jewry  in  raising  a  total  of  more  than 
$8,000,000.00  for  the  relief  of  the  Jews  of  Europe  and  in  Palestine 
affected  by  the  war.  Neither  the  bigness  of  the  amount  raised 
nor  the  fact  that  a  much  larger  sum  is  in  process  of  now  being 
contributed  by  the  three  million  persons  of  Jewish  origin  in  the 
United  States,  constitute  the  most  important  factors  in  the  vast 
undertaking. 

Nor  do  the  sensational  collections,  running  into  the  millions 
at  single  meetings,  nor  individual  contributions,  unequalled  in 
the  history  of  philanthropy,  begin  to  convey  an  adequate  idea 
of  the  qualities  of  mind  and  of  heart  which  make  the  Jewish 
people  stand  forth  unique  among  the  diverse  races  of  the  world. 

It  has  been  the  authors’  aim  to  give  to  the  American  public 
an  intimate  view,  in  narrative  form,  of  what  they  cannot  but 
regard  as  one  of  the  most  remarkable  illustrations  of 
homogeneity,  unselfishness  and  capacity  to  do  for  others,  shown 
by  any  people  at  any  time  in  the  world’s  history. 

The  story  itself  breathes  romance,  pulsates  with  heart  throbs 
and  is  replete  with  inspiration.  Indeed,  there  is  a  very  great 
deal  in  the  Jewish  character,  as  disclosed  in  what  American  Jews 
have  done  from  purely  humanitarian  motives,  worthy  of  emula¬ 
tion  by  non-Jews  of  all  faiths  and  nationalities. 

Striking  as  is  what  has  been  accomplished  by  American  Jewry 
for  their  co-religionists  visited  with  disaster  across  the  seas, 
equally  striking  is  the  manner  in  which  the  needs  of  the  less 
fortunate  at  home  have  been  met  without  diminution  of  aid, 
despite  the  golden  stream  which  has  given  comfort  and  life  to 
the  stricken  of  other  lands. 

With  the  United  States  now  involved  in  the  war  the  loyalty 
of  Jews  to  this  government,  their  affection  for  this  flag  and  the 
unanimity  displayed  by  them  in  support  of  American  ideals,  no 
matter  what  the  land  of  their  birth,  provides  an  additional 
example  to  other  Americans. 


The  authors  desire  to  express  their  appreciation  of  the  val¬ 
uable  co-operation  they  have  received  from  Mr.  Albert  Lucas, 
Secretary  of  the  Joint  Distribution  Committee,  and  from  the 
other  prominent  Jews  from  whom  they  have  obtained  the  facts 
which  have  gone  into  this  book.  There  have  been  many  work¬ 
ers  whose  names  are  necessarily  omitted  from  this  volume;  men 
and  women  who  have  done  much.  The  authors  have  only  men¬ 
tioned  those  with  whom  they  have  been  brought  into  personal 
contact  or  those  whose  acts  have  come  to  their  attention.  They 
only  trust  their  work  may  prove  in  a  slight  measure  helpful  in 
advancing  the  cause  in  which  so  many  are  unselfishly  engaged 
and  in  bringing  about  a  better  understanding  of  the  Jewish  peo¬ 
ple  on  the  part  of  those  who  are  not  Jews. 

With  these  ends  in  view,  the  authors  gladly  place  at  the 
disposal  of  those  who  may  desire  to  give  wider  dissemination  to 
any  of  the  material  herein  contained,  the  right  to  reprint  any 
part  or  parts  of  this  volume. 


THE  BOOK 


PAGE 

Foreword — Albert  Lucas  .  3 

Preface — the  Authors’  .  5 

Jacob  H.  Schiff  Just  “One  of  the  Crowd” .  10 

The  Jews’  “Man  of  the  Hour” .  11 

The  “Hunger  Woman” .  11 

Oscar  S.  Straus  Gets  the  Floor .  12 

Where  Democracy  Rules  .  13 

A  Meeting  at  Carnegie  Hall .  14 

What  America  Means  .  15 

What  an  Audience  Answered .  15 

Julius  Rosenwald’s  Million  Dollar  Gift  .  16 

A  Message  from  President  Wilson  .  18 

Sounding  a  Clarion  Call  .  19 

A  Declaration  of  Americanism  .  20 

Jacob  H.  Schiff’s  $500,000  Dinner .  21 

Magic  in  Mr.  Schiff’s  Name .  21 

Effect  of  New  Russian  Democracy .  22 

The  Ten  Per  Cent.  Roll  of  Honor .  23 

Golden  Words  and  Golden  Gifts  .  24 

Nathan  Straus’  Sacrifice .  25 

Turning  Heart  Throbs  Into  Millions .  27 

The  Jews’  Biggest  Achievement  .  28 

A  Money  Raising  Machine  .  29 

The  Wheels  Within  Wheels  .  30 

King  Midas  and  His  Brother  .  30 

The  “People’s  Committee  .  31 

The  Instrument  That  Spends  .  32 

The  Nation  Embraced  .  33 

Some  Strong  Personalities .  33 

What  the  Rabbis  Have  Done  .  34 

The  President’s  Proclamation  .  35 

The  Central  Committee’s  Task .  36 

The  Story  of  the  Watch  . 37 

Going  After  the  Mites .  37 

What  Happened  in  18  Days .  38 

Bridging  Thousands  of  Miles  .  39 

More  than  $8,000,000  Distributed .  40 

What  the  Women  Have  Done .  40 

Keeping  Track  of  the  Pennies .  41 

A  Single  Object  in  View  .  42 

To  Build  a  New  Europe .  43 

His  Brother’s  Keeper .  43 

But  the  Jew  Says,  “Not  Enough” .  44 

“Thb  Bulletin’s”  Rebuke  .  45 


/ 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/americanjewswarOOschm 


AMERICAN  JEWS 
AND  THE  WAR 


A  small  hall,  up  several  flights  of  stairs;  expectant  faces; 
women,  some  old  and  hatless,  with  shawls  over  their  heads, 
sparsely  sprinkled  through  an  audience  in  which  men,  old  men, 
predominate ;  here  and  there  younger  men ;  upon  the  platform 
plain  wooden  chairs,  a  table  with  a  cheap  porcelain  pitcher  in 
the  center  and  beside  it  a  glass.  There  is  the  steady  buzz  of 
conversation.  Many  of  the  men,  long  bearded,  wear  their  hats. 
One  by  one  men  mount  the  platform  and  are  seated. 

Conversation  continues.  Some  of  the  older  men  speak  a 
strange  language.  Indeed,  there  is  the  mingling  of  the  tongues 
of  many  nationalities.  The  voices  are  subdued,  but  emanate 
from  all  parts  of  the  room,  which  presently  is  filled.  More  men 
mount  the  platform  and  seat  themselves  at  random.  In  all 
there  may  be  twenty  seated  there.  One  of  the  last  to  walk  to 
his  place  is  young,  clean  shaven,  dark  haired  and  dark  eyed ; 
his  expression  serious  and  tinged  with  sadness. 

He  takes  a  seat  to  the  right  of  the  table.  Another  man 
moves  his  chair  to  the  table’s  left.  Still  the  conversation  goes 
on.  The  man  to  the  left  of  the  table  rises  and  uplifts  his  hand 
for  silence.  The  signal  is  instantly  obeyed.  He  makes  a  few 
remarks  and  hastens  to  introduce  the  serious  visaged  young 
man  who  explains  that  he  has  met  with  an  injury  to  his  foot 
and  must  remain  seated  while  he  addresses  the  gathering.  He 
moves  his  chair  to  the  front  of  the  platform  and  begins  to  speak 
in  a  low  voice.  His  first  words  are  in  Hebrew — “Sholem,  Sholem, 
Lorochok,  Velakorov,”  (Peace,  peace —  from  those  afar,  from  near) 
— but  he  speedily  launches  into  English. 

This,  in  effect,  is  what  he  says:  “Brothers  and  Sisters:  I 
have  just  come  from  a  land  of  desolation,  a  land  of  starving 
women  and  little  children,  a  land  without  heat,  without  employ¬ 
ment.  I  bring  you  greetings  from  the  Jewish  people  almost 
about  to  die.” 


/ 


10 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


There  is  a  protest  from  a  man  dressed  in  a  loose-fitting  suit 
of  black.  He  speaks  Yiddish.  The  speaker  on  the  platform  stops. 
There  is  a  colloquy  between  the  Chairman  and  the  man  in  the 
audience.  Others  stand  up  in  different  parts  of  the  hall  and  ask 
to  be  heard.  Each  is  given  his  say.  Some  speak  English,  some 
Russian,  some  German,  some  Yiddish,  a  few  Hebrew.  We  learn 
from  those  who  speak  English  that  “outsiders”  are  present ;  that 
it  was  supposed  the  meeting  would  be  an  executive  one  and  that 
there  are  objections  to  the  speaker  continuing  his  message. 

Jacob  H.  Schiff  Just  “One  of  the  Crowd.” 

A  small  man,  seated  near  the  front  of  the  room,  gets  up  and 
asks  the  floor.  To  his  right  is  a  patriarch  with  flowing  beard ;  to 
his  left,  a  middle-aged  woman  wearing  a  faded  dress.  “You 
are  recognized,”  says  the  Chairman. 

The  little  man  is  Jacob  H.  Schiff,  probably  the  richest  Jew 
in  America ;  head  of  the  firm  of  Kuhn,  Loeb  &  Company,  bankers. 
Mr.  Schiff,  speaking  simply,  asks  for  unity,  for  an  end  to  dissen¬ 
sion  and  that  the  speaker  be  permitted  to  finish  what  he  has  to 
say.  There  are  a  dozen  interruptions.  Mr.  Schiff,  meanwhile, 
patiently  awaiting  his  turn  to  be  heard  anew. 

No  one  is  denied  the  floor.  There  are  present  venerable 
Rabbis  of  the  Orthodox  faith,  many  of  whom  cannot  speak  Eng¬ 
lish  ;  Reformed  Rabbis ;  some  small  business  men,  tradesmen, 
and  merchants,  but  a  few  years  here ;  men  whose  incomes  for  a 
decade  do  not  equal  Mr.  Schiff’s  for  an  hour;  there  are  Jews 
born  in  Russia,  in  Poland,  in  Lithuania,  native  American  Jews; 
young  Jews,  whose  parents  or  brothers  and  sisters  are  in  the 
war-ravaged  lands  of  Europe,  some  of  them  doubtless  refugees — 
their  kin  here  know  not  where ;  there  are  old  women  and  men 
whose  sons  are  fighting  in  the  armies  of  one  or  the  other  of  the 
belligerents — these  and  many  others,  typical  of  every  strata  of 
Jewish  life  in  America. 

Many  wish  to  be  heard,  many  ply  questions,  and  still  Mr. 
Schiff  remains  quietly  standing.  At  last,  all  have  had  their  say. 
The  Chairman  gives  his  decision  that  the  speaker  tell  the  gather¬ 
ing  such  things  as  he  believes  fit,  in  the  circumstances.  Not  until 
then  does  Mr.  Schiff  resume  his  seat. 

And  who  is  the  speaker? 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


11 


The  Jews’  “Man  of  the  Hour.” 

It  is  Dr.  Judah  L.  Magnes !  Rabbi,  orator,  scholar,  “Man 
of  the  Hour”  in  the  hearts  of  the  Jewish  people  and  who  has  just 
returned  from  Europe,  where  he  went  to  see  in  what  manner 
had  been  expended  more  than  six  millions  of  dollars  contributed 
by  American  Jews  for  the  relief  of  the  Jewish  war  sufferers 
and  who  is  here  to  report  on  his  observations. 

Dr.  Magnes  continues  his  recital :  “There  is  nothing  to  get 
excited  about,”  he  says.  “There  is  nothing  of  the  dramatic,  noth¬ 
ing  of  the  picturesque ;  there  is  no  movement  from  place  to 
place ;  there  is  no  persecution  to  stir  the  imagination,  as  in  the 
beginning  of  the  war.  What  remains  now  is  dead,  dull,  voice¬ 
less  misery.” 

“And  what  of  Jewish  womanhood  under  this  blight  of  war, 
of  want,  of  ordeal?”  he  asks.  “I  will  tell  you  that  of  which  every 
Jew  may  be  proud.  There  are  young  women,  beautiful  women, 
who  have  not  eaten  in  so  long  they  cannot  tell  you  when  they 
partook  of  their  last  meal.  Of  these  there  are  hundreds. 

“In  Warsaw,  all  is  not  want.  There  are  restaurants  and 
cafes  with  brightly  burning  lights,  with  music,  tables  bounteously 
spread.  The  theatres  house  merry  throngs.  The  lights,  the 
laughter  and  the  gaiety,  the  warm  food,  the  invigorating  drinks 
— all  these  are  to  be  had  for  the  asking. 

“Handsome  young  German  officers,  arrogant,  proud,  wear¬ 
ing  attractive  uniforms,  with  glittering  sabres  at  their  sides, 
money  jingling  plentifully  in  their  pockets,  throng  the  streets, 
fill  the  places  of  amusement  and  live  on  the  fat  of  the  land. 
There  is  the  light  of  desire  in  their  eyes.  The  wine  has  made 
them  bold — they  do  not  hesitate  to  gratify  their  passions. 

The  “Hunger  Woman.” 

“In  nearby  streets — but  a  stone’s  throw  away  from  the  places 
of  plenty — in  rooms  where  there  is  no  heat,  ofttimes  not  even  a 
candle,  with  cupboards  bare :  alone,  separated  from  parents,  from 
brothers  and  sisters,  the  flower  of  Jewish  womanhood  holds  itself 
aloof.  I  entered  such  a  room  and  beheld  one  of  these  young 
women.  She  was  young,  nineteen  or  twenty.  She  was  also 
beautiful,  very  beautiful.  She  was  seated  at  a  table,  reading. 
I  asked  her  what  the  book  was  about.  It  was,  she  said,  a 


12 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


Yiddish  translation  of  Knud  Hamsun,  and  its  title,  ‘Hunger.’ 
'Does  he  understand  something  about  hunger,’  I  asked?  ‘Oh,  he 
talks  of  hunger  as  though  it  were  two  hundred  or  three  hundred 
years  ago,’  she  answered.  I  asked  her,  ‘do  you  know  more  about 
hunger  than  he  does,’  and  she  replied,  simply,  ‘perhaps  I  do 
know  more !’ 

“That  young  woman  might  have  gone  out  on  the  streets  of 
Warsaw  and  sold  herself.  But  she  did  not.  I  tell  you  it  is 
wonderful  to  see  how  the  Jewish  women  are  bearing  up  under 
this  calamity.  How  few  sell  themselves  for  food  for  themselves 
or  for  their  families.  I  have  statistics  to  show  this  and  the  testi¬ 
mony  of  German  officers  to  show  it — how  the  Jewish  women  are 
preserving  their  honor  and  the  honor  of  their  people  throughout 
this  great  catastrophe.” 

A  deep  silence  falls  on  the  room. 

Here  and  there  a  woman  stifles  a  sob ! 

But  Dr.  Magnes’  hearers  are,  for  the  most  part,  stoical.  It 
is  plain  they  are  much  moved,  but  they  do  not  give  way  to  their 
emotions ;  rather  does  the  stillness  in  the  room  reflect  the  mental 
strain  under  which  both  speaker  and  hearers  are  laboring. 

Several  moments  elapse,  and  then  Dr.  Magnes  tells  in  a  few 
words,  without  raising  his  voice,  in  the  tone  of  ordinary  conver¬ 
sation,  what  he  saw  in  Vilna,  in  Kovno,  and  elsewhere. 

There  are  more  interruptions.  The  speaker  is  asked  by  an 
old  man,  whose  voice  trembles,  “What  of  Russia?”  “What  of 
Bulgaria?”  “Of  Galicia?”  “Of  Lithuania?”  still  others  ask,  and 
each  is  answered,  one  in  English,  another  in  German,  another  in 
Yiddish. 

Oscar  S.  Straus  Gets  the  Floor. 

Yet  one  more  man  stands  up.  He  is  short  of  stature.  Kindly 
eyes  show  beneath  a  high,  broad  forehead.  His  figure  and  fea¬ 
tures  are  delicate,  he  wears  a  sandy  beard. 

“Mr.  Chairman,  may  I  ask  a  question?”  he  queries. 

“Yes,”  replies  the  Chairman,  who  by  this  time  we  have 
learned  is  Louis  Marshall,  prominent  New  York  lawyer.  “Yes, 
Mr.  Straus.” 

The  speaker  this  time  is  the  honorable  Oscar  S.  Straus, 
Ex-Ambassador  to  Turkey,  the  first  Jew  to  sit  in  the  Cabinet 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


13 


of  a  President  of  the  United  States,  Secretary  of  Commerce  and 
Labor,  under  President  Roosevelt,  and  now  Chairman  of  the 
Public  Service  Commission  of  New  York  City. 

Mr.  Straus  asks  Dr.  Magnes  what  he  has  heard  from  a  cer¬ 
tain  part  of  Russia.  He  is  answered  and  resumes  his  seat.  Scores 
of  similar  questions  are  asked  and  answered. 

There  are  others  of  note  at  the  meeting.  Among  them  is 
Felix  M.  Warburg,  partner  with  Mr.  Schiff  in  the  firm  of  Kuhn, 
Loeb  &  Company ;  Herbert  H.  Lehman,  another  banker,  brother 
of  a  Supreme  Court  Judge  of  New  York  State;  Albert  Lucas, 
who  has  been  in  the  forefront  of  Jewish  communal,  social  and 
philanthropic  work  for  a  quarter  of  a  century;  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ber¬ 
nard  Drachman,  President  of  the  Union  of  Orthodox  Congrega¬ 
tions  of  America ;  Meyer  London,  the  only  Socialist  Repre¬ 
sentative  in  Congress ;  Harry  Fischel,  large  realty  operator 
and  philanthropist;  Dr.  Paul  Kaplan,  ex-Russian  revolution¬ 
ist,  now  practicing  medicine  on  the  East  Side  of  New  York; 
Miss  Harriet  B.  Lowenstein,  lawyer  and  one  of  the  three  women 
certified  public  accountants  of  New  York  State;  Sholem  Ash, 
famous  Yiddish  writer;  Cyrus  L.  Sulzberger,  business  man,  can¬ 
didate  for  President  for  the  Borough  of  Manhattan,  New  York 
City,  at  a  recent  election;  David  M.  Bressler,  social  worker,  and 
one  of  the  early  pioneers  in  war  relief;  Isidore  Hershfield,  charity 
worker  and  lawyer,  who,  previous  to  Dr.  Magnes,  went  abroad 
to  study  the  condition  of  the  Jews  in  the  war  zones  and  has 
addressed  many  meetings  since  his  return;  Julius  J.  Dukas,  head 
of  the  Jewish  Free  Loan  movement  in  the  United  States;  Morris 
Engelman,  Financial  Secretary  of  the  Union  of  Orthodox  Congre¬ 
gations  of  America;  Rabbi  S.  Margolies,  President  of  the  Union 
of  Orthodox  Rabbis  of  America,  and  many  more. 

Where  Democracy  Rules. 

We  cannot  distinguish,  from  their  bearing,  from  any  special 
mark  of  deference  shown  them,  from  the  places  they  occupy  in 
the  audience  or  on  the  platform,  from  their  participation  in  the 
proceedings,  nor  by  any  other  outward  evidence,  who  are  the 
great  and  who  the  lowly — who  the  leaders  and  who  the  follow¬ 
ers — in  this  work  for  humanity. 

Here,  then,  we  feel,  is  Democracy.  Here  is  Equality.  Not 
of  birth,  of  station  in  life,  of  affluence,  but  of  Rights  and  of  Op- 


14 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


portunity.  Here  is  that  Democracy  so  long  sought,  so  long 
theorized  about,  so  seldom  seen  in  practice.  Here  is  the  Jew 
among  Jews.  Here  are  the  principles  of  the  Faith  of  the  Fathers 
exemplified  in  the  present.  This  is  not  a  gathering  in  which  any 
person  seeks  honor  or  applause ;  it  is  a  gathering  called  to  con¬ 
sider  a  tragedy — a  tragedy  affecting  all  humanity  and  with  dread 
result  the  Jewish  race. 

This  little  assemblage  of  men  and  women — numbering  not 
more  than  two  or  three  hundred  in  all — is  America’s  answer  to 
that  tragedy.  It  is  the  men  and  women  who  represent  the  Jews 
of  the  United  States  banded  together  to  feed  the  needy,  to  bind 
the  wounds  of  those  who  bleed,  to  shelter  the  raimentless  and  to 
house  the  homeless.  Jews  who  are  determined  their  brothers 
and  sisters  in  Europe  shall  not  die,  if  their  help  can  save  them ; 
whose  sympathy  goes  out  to  the  little  children  and  to  the  old 
men  and  women.  Jews  who  have  already  given  according  to 
their  means,  but  who  meet  to  hear  what  still  is  needed;  to  give 
again,  and  yet  again  and  to  find  ways  to  keep  on  giving. 

A  Meeting  at  Carnegie  Hall. 

What  is  the  sequel  to  the  story  Dr.  Magnes  has  unfolded? 

It  is  a  few  weeks  later. 

This  time  the  scene  is  changed  to  a  great  auditorium,  to 
Carnegie  Hall,  one  of  the  very  largest  meeting  places  in  New 
York  City.  Some  5,000  persons  fill  every  part  of  the  great  build¬ 
ing.  They  come  from  all  over  the  United  States.  Tickets  of 
admission  have  for  days  previous  been  exhausted.  Thousands 
of  persons — unable  to  gain  admittance — clamor  at  the  doors. 
Again  the  assemblage  is  made  up  of  the  exalted  and  the  lowly 
of  the  Jewish  race. 

Nathan  Straus,  who  has  saved  the  lives  of  countless  babies 
by  the  distribution  of  free  milk,  is  the  Temporary  Chairman. 
He  has  not  attended  a  public  function  in  over  five  months,  be¬ 
cause  of  his  grief  and  worry  over  the  sufferings  of  the  war  vic¬ 
tims  ;  but,  he  cannot  remain  away  from  this  meeting,  he  tells 
the  gathering.  The  Permanent  Chairman  is  Jacob  H.  Schiff 
and  the  speakers  also  include  the  Mayor  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  John  Purroy  Mitchel,  a  Roman  Catholic;  a  representative 
in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  James  A.  Reed,  Senator  from 
Missouri,  together  with  Rabbi  Leon  Harrison  of  St.  Louis  and 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


15 


Dr.  Magnes.  Dr.  Magnes  repeats  his  story.  His  manner  of 
speaking  is  not  different  from  that  at  the  smaller  meeting.  There 
is  no  attempt  at  oratory — no  effort  at  dramatic  effect. 

What  America  Means. 

“The  people  of  whom  I  have  told  you  do  not  know  where 
to  turn,  except  to  you  and  to  me — to  America,”  he  concludes. 
“As  soon  as  it  is  discovered  you  are  from  America,  a  whole  city 
seems  to  spring  up  from  the  ground.  Every  person  has  an  ad¬ 
dress  in  his  hand — written  down  on  the  back  of  an  old  envelope, 
on  a  soiled  piece  of  paper.  I  remember  every  one  of  them — the 
men,  the  women— dirty  because  they  had  no  water  with  which 
to  wash ;  miserable,  ragged,  every  one  of  them ;  each  one  with 
the  address  of  some  one  in  America. 

“I  had  never  before  known  what  America  meant,  although 
I  have  been  away  from  America  and  have  lived  in  America. 
America  means  everything  to  the  Jews  of  all  Europe,  now — 
everything.” 

And,  what  does  the  audience  answer  as  Dr.  Magnes  ends  his 
appeal? 

What  an  Audience  Answered. 

The  answer  is  in  cash  and  in  pledges.  There  are  contributions 
of  $100,000  each,  others  of  $50,000,  of  $40,000,  of  $25,000,  of 
$10,000,  of  $5,000,  of  $1,000.  There  are  $500  contributions,  others 
of  $250,  others  of  $100,  and  still  others  of  $50,  of  $20,  $10,  $5  and 
$1.  Young  Jewish  girls  bear  to  the  platform  baskets  heaped  high 
with  bills,  heavy  with  silver,  with  nickels,  dimes  and  pennies — 
even  bits  of  jewelry.  Three  million  dollars  is  the  total,  the 
largest  sum  ever  contributed  for  philanthropy  at  a  single  meet¬ 
ing,  in  the  world’s  history! 

But  this  is  not  all.  Dr.  Magnes  has  asked  his  hearers  to 
pledge  $10,000,000  additional,  during  1917,  alone.  He  knows  the 
three  million  Jews  in  the  United  States  have  already  given,  at  the 
time  he  speaks,  more  than  $2.00  each  for  every  man,  woman  and 
child  towards  the  cause  of  war  relief.  But  he  declares  the  needs 
of  the  present  and  of  the  immediate  future  require  still  greater 
sacrifices,  if  the  race  in  America  is  not  to  be  recreant  to  its 
duty.  And  this,  in  the  face  of  the  fact  he  knows  also  the  Jews 


16 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


have  sent  abroad  more  than  six  times  the  per  capita  sum  con¬ 
tributed  by  the  97,000,000  non-Jews  in  America  to  every  form 
of  war  relief — Belgium,  France  and  Germany  included.  In  other 
words,  up  to  the  time  of  the  Carnegie  Hall  meeting,  the  sympathy 
of  non-Jews  for  the  afflicted  peoples  in  Europe  was  expressed 
in  money  contributions  totalling  less  than  $28,000,000 — only 
about  thirty  cents  per  capita. 

This  meeting  is  but  typical  of  many  other  great  meetings 
held  throughout  the  land  and  at  which  the  most  noted  orators 
of  the  Jewish  race  have  raised  their  voices  in  behalf  of  the 
suffering  millions  across  the  seas.  Thousands  of  dollars  have  re¬ 
sulted  from  each  of  these  meetings.  Chicago,  Kansas  City,  Phila¬ 
delphia,  St.  Louis,  Boston,  San  Francisco,  Los  Angeles — East 
and  West,  North  and  South, — wherever  large  numbers  of  Jews 
are  to  be  found,  the  answer  has  been  tbe  same.  And  in  the  towns 
and  villages,  and  in  the  country-side,  there  have  been  smaller 
meetings,  but  in  each  case  the  story  has  been  no  different — 
money  poured  out  spontaneously  wherever  the  message  has 
reached. 

Julius  Rosenwald’s  Million  Dollar  Gift. 

Whenever  there  has  been  the  indication  that  enthusiasm  was 
waning;  that  the  Jew  in  America  has  been  in  danger  of  lapsing 
into  forgetfulness  of  the  horrors  visited  upon  the  members  of 
the  race  in  Europe,  means  have  been  found  to  rekindle  his  sym¬ 
pathies,  to  quicken  his  natural  impulse  to  give  and  to  impress  upon 
him  the  truth  that  starvation  and  death  continue  to  make  their 
ceaseless  inroads  upon  the  Jewish  population  of  Europe — a  con¬ 
dition  only  to  be  remedied  by  American  dollars. 

Thus  it  was,  a  few  weeks  ago,  that  both  Jew  and  non-Jew 
had  their  attention  once  more  focused  upon  the  terrible  plight 
of  Jewry  abroad  through  the  largest  individual  contribution  in 
the  history  of  all  war  relief,  the  gift  of  Julius  Rosenwald,  of 
Chicago,  head  of  the  great  firm  of  Sears-Roebuck  Co.  Mr.  Rosen¬ 
wald  pledged  to  the  cause  of  war  relief  out  of  his  own  pocket  the 
sum  of  one  million  dollars. 

But  Mr.  Rosenwald  full  well  realized  that  the  giving  of  this 
sum,  large  as  it  is,  constitutes  but  a  drop  in  the  bucket  as  placed 
against  the  needs  of  the  situation.  Fie  realized  that  in  order  to 
make  his  contribution  count  to  the  fullest  it  was  necessary  to 
make  it  prove  the  stimulus  by  which  other  Jews  should  do  their 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


17 


part  as  their  circumstances  permitted.  Accordingly,  he  con¬ 
ditioned  his  gift  upon  the  understanding  that  he  would  give  ten 
per  cent,  on  all  the  moneys  contributed  by  the  rest  of  American 
Jewry  up  to  November  1,  1917,  in  amounts  of  $100,000  on  each 
$1,000,000  collected  up  to  $10,000,000. 

The  offer  was  made  through  the  American  Jewish  Relief 
Committee,  but  included  in  its  terms  the  sums  raised,  not  alone 
through  that  committee,  but  through  the  other  constituent  com¬ 
mittees  of  the  Joint  Distribution  Committee,  the  Central  and  the 
People’s  Relief  Committees. 

In  this  manner  it  was  possible  to  stimulate  every  section  of 
American  Jewry  to  renewed  activity  in  behalf  of  the  war  suffer¬ 
ers;  to  unite  in  the  common  purpose  of  speedily  raising  an  addi¬ 
tional  $10,000,000  every  Jewish  man  and  woman  in  America. 

One  of  the  great  advantages  of  Mr.  Rosenwald’s  unprece¬ 
dented  example  was  the  wide  attention  it  secured  in  the  press 
of  the  country,  for  the  following  letter  announcing  the  gift  was 
published  broadcast  throughout  the  United  States : 

Chicago,  March  9,  1917. 

Mr.  Louis  Marshall,  Chairman, 

American  Jewish  Relief  Committee. 

Dear  Mr.  Marshall: — The  marked  change  for  the  worse 
which  has  taken  place  in  the  condition  of  our  co-religionists  in 
belligerent  lands,  so  graphically  outlined  by  Mr.  Jacob  Billikopf, 
has  impressed  upon  me  most  acutely  the  great  need  of  raising 
immediately  the  $10,000,000  fund  which  American  Jewry  is  en¬ 
deavoring  to  collect. 

In  the  hope  that  the  urgency  of  the  situation  will  be  brought 
home  to  the  Jews  of  the  United  States,  I  make  the  following 
offer: 

I  will  donate  to  the  relief  fund  an  amount  not  to  exceed  one 
million  dollars  conditioned  as  follows: 

For  every  million  dollars  collected  after  March  1st  I  will 
contribute  $100,000,  but  in  order  that  results  may  be  obtained 
with  sufficient  rapidity,  at  least  in  some  small  measure  to  meet 
the  present  crying  needs,  I  put  a  time  limitation — until  Novem¬ 
ber  1,  1917 — upon  this  offer. 

I  sincerely  believe  that  no  greater  crisis  in  the  history  of 
the  world  has  ever  existed,  where  literally  millions  of  people  are 
on  the  verge  of  starvation. 

Trusting  that  the  total  amount  of  $10,000,000  will  soon  be 
collected  and  wishing  you  Godspeed  on  your  noble  errand, 

I  am, 

Sincerely  yours, 

JULIUS  ROSENWALD. 


18 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


A  Message  from  President  Wilson. 

Burdened  as  was  President  Wilson,  just  at  this  time,  with 
the  portentous  prospect  of  the  United  States  entering  the  world 
conflict,  he,  nevertheless,  again  showed  his  sympathy  with  the 
Jewish  sufferers  in  the  war  zones  and  with  the  efforts  of  Ameri¬ 
can  Jewry  to  ameliorate  their  condition  by  sending  a  personal 
telegram  to  Mr.  Rosenwald. 

As  was  true  of  Mr.  Rosenwald’s  announcement,  the  Presi¬ 
dent’s  telegram  was  widely  published  and  drew  more  attention 
to  the  cause.  Under  date  of  March  29th,  President  Wilson  wired : 

Your  contribution  of  $1,000,000  to  the  $10,000,000  fund  for 
the  relief  of  Jewish  war  sufferers  serves  democracy  as  well  as 
humanity.  The  Russian  revolution  has  opened  the  door  of 
freedom  to  an  oppressed  people,  but  unless  they  are  given  life 
and  strength  and  courage  the  opportunity  of  centuries  will  avail 
them  little. 

It  is  to  America  that  these  starving  millions  look  for  aid  and 
out  of  our  prosperity,  fruit  of  free  institutions,  should  spring 
a  vast  and  ennobling  generosity.  Your  gift  lays  an  obligation 
even  while  it  furnishes  inspiration. 

The  effect  of  Mr.  Rosenwald’s  offer  was  to  at  once  cause 
the  formulation  of  plans  by  all  the  committees  engaged  in  raising 
funds,  whereby  the  $10,000,000  should  be  secured  before  the  ex¬ 
piration  of  time  fixed  by  him  and  whereby  his  $1,000,000  might 
be  obtained  in  full. 

The  American  Relief  Committee  immediately  organized  a 
campaign  committee,  electing  to  the  chairmanship  the  Hon. 
Henry  Morgenthau,  ex-Ambassador  to  Turkey.  The  Central 
Committee  arranged  a  propaganda  tour  of  concerts  to  be  given 
throughout  the  United  States  by  the  Rev.  Joseph  Rosenblatt, 
Cantor  of  the  Congregation  Ohab  Zedek,  of  New  York,  the  first 
of  which  was  held  at  the  New  York  Hippodrome. 

This  meeting  resulted  in  one  of  the  most  unusual  outpour¬ 
ings  of  Orthodox  Jews,  largely  speaking  Yiddish,  in  the  history 
of  the  country.  The  entire  programme,  with  the  exception  of 
one  or  two  of  the  speeches,  was  in  either  Hebrew  or  Yiddish, 
and  the  speakers  included  Judge  Otto  A.  Rosalsky,  of  the  Court 
of  General  Sessions,  New  York  City,  the  Rev.  Hersh  Masliansky 
and  Nathan  Straus.  Mr.  Masliansky  in  the  Yiddish  tongue  moved 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


19 


many  to  tears,  and  the  six  thousand  persons  who  packed  the  vast 
amphitheatre  to  the  doors,  though  all  in  moderate  circum¬ 
stances,  responded  with  $66,000,  in  cash  and  in  subscriptions, 
which  it  is  sought  to  make  number  100,000,  the  amounts  to  be 
paid  in  instalments.  Morris  Engelman  had  charge  of  this  meet¬ 
ing,  and  was  very  largely  responsible,  through  his  personal 
efforts,  for  its  success,  though  Harry  Fischel,  Stanley  Bero, 
Rabbi  Teitelbaum,  Albert  Lucas  and  other  officers  of  the  Central 
Committee  contributed  to  the  results,  which  formed  another 
proof  of  the  strength  and  cohesiveness  of  this  representative 
committee  of  middle  class  Jews. 

The  People’s  Committee  held  a  mass  meeting  at  the  Man¬ 
hattan  Opera  House,  New  York  City,  which  was  addressed  by 
Dr.  Stephen  S.  Wise,  Dr.  Shmarya  Levine,  Abraham  Cahan, 
Sholom  Ash  and  Baruch  Zuckerman.  More  than  1,000  self- 
taxation  pledges  of  small  weekly  amounts,  totalling  about  $10,000, 
were  received  at  this  meeting  and  the  People’s  Committee  has 
arranged  to  carry  out  this  plan  throughout  the  entire  country. 

Sounding  a  Clarion  Call. 

.  The  first  step  of  the  American  Committee’s  campaign  was 
the  calling  by  Mr.  Morgenthau  of  what  was  described  as  a  Na¬ 
tional  Emergency  Conference,  composed  of  delegates  from  vari¬ 
ous  parts  of  the  United  States  representing  the  Committee  in 
their  respective  communities.  This  conference,  held  at  Temple 
Emanu-el,  New  York  City,  on  Sunday,  April  15,  brought  together 
the  most  prominent  members  of  this  committee,  to  the  number 
of  about  500,  who  later  in  the  day  were  the  guests  of  Mr.  Jacob 
PI.  Schiffi  at  one  of  the  most  notable  dinners  ever  held  in  America. 

Among  the  active  participants  at  the  conference,  at  which  plans 
were  made  for  an  intensive  campaign  on  the  part  of  the  Com¬ 
mittee  to  cover  every  section  of  the  country,  were:  Mr.  Marshall; 
Mr.  Morgenthau;  Mr.  Schiff;  Felix  M.  Warburg;  Jacob 
Billikopf,  of  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  Executive  Director  of  the  Ameri- 
man  Committee’s  campaign ;  Louis  E.  Levy,  of  Philadelphia ; 
Herbert  H.  Lehman,  Treasurer  of  both  the  Joint  Distribution 
Committee  and  the  American  Relief  Committee ;  Cyrus  L.  Sulz¬ 
berger,  Secretary  of  the  American  Committee;  Dr.  William 
Rosenau,  of  Baltimore;  Rabbi  Joseph  Leiser,  of  Joplin,  Mo.; 
Rabbi  D.  De  Sola  Pool,  of  New  York;  A.  Leo  Weil,  of  Pitts- 


20 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


burgh;  A.  C.  Wurmser,  of  Kansas  City;  the  Rev.  Dr.  Moses 
Hyamson,  of  New  York ;  Rabbi  Jacob  Tarshis,  of  Allentown,  Pa. ; 
David  M.  Bressler,  of  New  York;  Lessing  Rosenthal,  of  Chicago; 
Otto  Irving  Wise,  of  San  Francisco,  Cal.;  Harry  Cutler,  of 
Providence,  R.  I. ;  the  Rev.  Dr.  Edward  Calisch,  of  Richmond, 
Va. ;  Dr.  J.  H.  Stolper,  of  Muskogee,  Okla;  Rabbi  M.  Baron,  of 
Cumberland,  Md. ;  Rabbi  H.  A.  Guinzberg,  of  Wilkesbarre,  Pa. ; 
Leon  Fellman,  of  New  Orleans;  Judge  Solomon  Newcorn,  of 
Plainfield,  N.  J. ;  H.  P.  Koppleman,  of  Hartford,  Conn.;  J.  Stern, 
of  Chrome,  N.  J.;  George  Pick,  of  Chicago;  Max  Adler,  of  Chi¬ 
cago;  Rabbi  Marvin  Nathan,  of  Philadelphia;  Marcus  M.  Marks, 
President  of  the  Borough  of  Manhattan,  New  York  City;  the 
Rev.  Dr.  H.  Pereira  Mendes,  of  New  York;  Rabbi  Clifton  Harvey 
Levy,  of  the  Bronx;  David  Brown,  of  Detroit;  Supreme  Court 
Justice  Samuel  A.  Greenbaum,  of  New  York;  Jacob  Asher,  of 
Worcester,  Mass.;  Col.  Isaac  M.  Ullman,  of  New  Haven,  Conn.; 
Isidore  Hershfield,  of  New  York;  I.  Berger,  of  Asbury  Park, 
N.  J.;  David  H.  Gross,  of  Kansas  City,  Mo.;  Benjamin  Nathal, 
of  Camden,  N.  J.,  and  the  Rev.  J.  M.  Kowalsky,  of  New  York. 

As  at  other  meetings,  where  Jews  have  gathered  to  consider 
measures  for  raising  war  relief  funds,  this  Emergency  Conference 
could  not  but  impress  the  non-Jew  by  its  Democracy;  by  the 
freedom  of  utterance  it  provoked;  by  the  opportunity  afforded  to 
all,  whether  a  leader  or  a  follower,  to  express  his  frankest  views. 

The  conference  resulted  in  a  definite  plan  for  dividing  the 
nation  into  districts,  under  competent  leadership;  for  assessing 
upon  the  several  States  the  amounts  which,  by  virtue  of  the  size 
of  their  Jewish  populations,  they  should  be  expected  to  contribute 
toward  the  $10,000,000  sought ;  and  the  suggestion  was  even 
made  that  a  complete  census  of  the  Jews  of  the  United  States 
be  taken,  in  order  that  not  a  single  man,  woman,  or  child  able 
to  contribute  should  evade  his  or  her  duty. 


A  Declaration  of  Americanism. 

As  the  first  national  gathering  of  Jews  held  since  the  declara¬ 
tion  of  war  between  the  United  States  and  Germany  it  was  ad¬ 
ditionally  interesting  by  reason  of  the  patriotic  note  it  sounded; 
by  reason  of  the  evidence,  abundantly  given  in  the  addresses  de¬ 
livered,  of  the  loyalty  to  America  of  every  Jew  present,  and  as 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


21 


finally  expressed  in  this  resolution  introduced  by  Mr.  Herbert  H. 
Lehman,  and  unanimously  adopted : 

At  this  time  when  we  are  gathered  to  consider  the  grave 
needs  of  the  millions  of  Jewish  victims  of  European  autocracy, 
it  is  peculiarly  fit  that  we  declare  our  abiding  faith  in  the  sacred 
cause  of  democracy,  founded  on  justice,  equality  and  humanity 
and  that  we  bear  witness  to  the  blessings  of  free  institutions 
as  exemplified  by  our  glorious  country.  We,  therefore,  tender 
to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  our  whole-hearted  support 
and  pledge  to  this,  the  land  of  our  birth,  or  adoption,  our  deep 
devotion,  and  to  that  humanity  which  has  compelled  a  peace- 
loving  people  to  take  arms  in  furtherance  of  its  behests,  we, 
as  Americans,  in  common  with  our  fellow-Americans,  dedicate 
our  lives  and  our  fortunes. 

Jacob  H.  Schiff’s  $500,000  Dinner. 

But  of  all  the  events  which  have  taken  place,  of  all  the  fac¬ 
tors  which  have  served  to  secure  the  vast  sum,  thus  far  con¬ 
tributed  by  the  Jews  of  America  to  their  co-religionists  in  other 
lands,  in  the  three  years  since  the  war,  it  is  doubtful  if  any  has 
been  more  impressive  than  the  dinner  given  by  Mr.  Jacob  H. 
Schiff  to  the  delegates  to  this  Emergency  Conference  and  which 
was  held  at  the  Hotel  Savoy,  New  York  City,  on  the  evening  of 
April  15th. 

Here  were  gathered  together,  for  the  most  part,  but  the 
representatives  of  one  section  of  American  Jewry,  those  consti¬ 
tuting  the  American  Jewish  Relief  Committee.  And  by  these 
men  and  women,  not  exceeding  several  hundred  in  number,  was 
contributed,  before  the  evening  was  over,  about  $500,000  in  cash 
and  in  pledges. 

And  there  was  probably  not  one  in  the  assemblage  who  had 
not  already  given  again  and  again  to  the  same  cause ;  some  had 
contributed  very  large  amounts  at  the  meeting  held  but  a  few 
months  before  at  Carnegie  Hall,  notably  Mr.  Schiff  and  Nathan 
Straus,  both  of  whom  once  more  led  the  way  with  large  gifts,  the 
first  with  $100,000  and  the  second  with  $50,000. 

Magic  in  Mr.  Schiff’s  Name. 

Mr.  Schiff  had  issued  his  invitation  with  the  object,  it  was 
stated  in  them,  of  providing  the  delegates  with  the  opportunity 
of  personally  meeting  Mr.  Rosenwald  and  Mr.  Morgenthau.  But 


22 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


it  is  probable  that  there  was  no  one  present  who  did  not  realize 
acceptance  of  the  invitation  meant  that  he  would  once  more  be 
called  upon  to  respond  to  the  call  to  give  to  the  cause  of  war 
relief.  And  yet,  such  is  the  magic  of  Mr.  Schiff’s  name  with 
American  Jewry,  that  it  is  doubtful  if  any  one  declined  the  in¬ 
vitation  who  could,  by  any  possibility,  be  present. 

In  addition  to  Mr.  Schiff,  Mr.  Rosenwald,  Mr.  Morgenthau 
and  Mr.  Straus,  other  speakers  comprised  many  men  foremost  in 
the  leadership  of  American  Jewry.  Among  these  were:  Felix 
M.  Warburg,  Louis  Marshall,  Herbert  H.  Lehman,  Congressman 
Meyer  London,  Dr.  Judah  L.  Magnes,  and  Dr.  Maurice  H.  Harris, 
of  Temple  Israel,  New  York. 

The  addresses  were  stirring,  they  were  patriotic,  but  they 
differed  from  the  ordinary  addresses  heard  at  banquets,  for  there 
was  none  that  was  not  marked  by  deep  emotion,  by  a  note  of 
sincerity  and  feeling  quite  unusual  in  any  gathering. 

The  proceedings  began  with  a  toast,  which  was  proposed 
by  Mr.  Schiff,  and  which  was  drunk  standing,  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States.  Mr.  Schiff  then  sounded  one  of  the  key 
notes  of  the  gathering,  when  he  expressed  the  joy  of  American 
Jewry  over  the  liberation  of  Russia  from  the  shackles  of 
Autocracy  and  of  the  coming  to  that  country,  after  a  wait  of 
centuries,  of  the  new  found  Democracy  of  the  Russian  people. 

Effect  of  New  Russian  Democracy. 

That  it  is  the  duty  of  American  Jewry  to  assist  their  brethren 
in  Russia  to  realize  to  the  fullest  the  opportunity  which,  now,  for 
the  first  time  is  theirs,  was  the  burden  of  Mr.  Schiff’s  address. 
This  can  only  be  done,  he  insisted,  through  liberal  pecuniary  aid 
to  make  it  possible  that  the  broken  down  men,  women  and  chil¬ 
dren  of  Russia  be  given  the  means  of  life. 

That  a  profound  impression  has  been  made  upon  American 
Jewry  by  the  changed  conditions  in  Russia  and  that  these  con¬ 
ditions  will  have  a  large  effect  upon  the  future  raising  of  relief 
moneys  was  the  tenor  of  all  the  remarks,  although  the  plea  in 
behalf  of  Jewry  in  other  nations,  affected  by  the  war,  was  by  no 
means  overlooked,  for  the  viewpoint  was  taken  that  the  great 
mass  of  Jewish  non-combatants,  innocent  of  either  the  causes 
producing  the  war,  or  of  prolonging  its  terrors,  must,  of  neces¬ 
sity,  not  be  left  to  suffer  unaided. 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


23 


Mr.  Rosenwald,  the  second  speaker,  deprecated  his  own 
magnanimous  gift,  submerging  his  personal  contribution  in  a 
general  plea  for  the  co-operation  of  all  Jews  in  order  that  he 
might  be  made  to  give  to  the  farthermost  penny  of  his  pledge. 
He,  too,  referred  to  the  remarkable  changes  in  Russia  and  the 
additional  reason,  therefore,  why  American  Jewry  should  re¬ 
spond  with  alacrity  to  the  cry  of  the  whole  race  in  Europe.  He 
further  declared  the  sufferings  of  the  Belgians,  great  as  they  are, 
are  as  nothing  to  the  plight  of  the  Jews.  The  Belgians,  he  said, 
had  been  fed,  no  matter  how  poorly.  But  millions  of  Jews  had 
been  left  absolutely  to  starve. 

Mr.  Morgenthau  told  in  simple  words  how  he  had  been  led 
to  accept  the  chairmanship  of  the  American  Committee’s  Cam¬ 
paign  and  made  a  virile,  effective  and  remarkable  plea  to  his 
hearers  to  give  and  to  give  yet  again. 

But  the  speech-making  only  got  fairly  under  way,  with  typi¬ 
cal  Jewish  enthusiasm,  when  Louis  Marshall  announced  that 
throughout  the  country  many  men  had  come  forward  to  dupli¬ 
cate  either  for  states  or  for  the  communities  in  which  they  live 
the  offer  of  Mr.  Rosenwald.  In  other  words,  that  there  were 
many  Jews  throughout  the  land',  prosperous  and  successful,  who 
recognized  the  obligation  resting  upon  them  and  would  there¬ 
fore  contribute,  by  states  or  cities,  ten  per  cent,  of  the  sums 
raised  by  others  in  their  communities.  He  announced  the  fol¬ 
lowing  who  already  had  agreed  to  this  generous  offer: 

The  Ten  Per  Cent.  Roll  of  Honor. 

Within  the  States :  Gov.  Simon  Bamberger,  Utah ;  Gov. 
Moses  Alexander,  Idaho;  Ben  Selling,  Oregon;  Adolph  S.  Ochs, 
Tennessee;  S.  R.  Travis,  Oklahoma;  E.  M.  Chase,  New 
Hampshire. 

Within  the  cities:  Felix  Fuld,  Newark,  N.  J. ;  Morris  Levy, 
Omaha,  Neb.;  L.  B.  Finkelstein,  Wellsboro,  Pa.;  Jacob  Epstein, 
Baltimore,  Md. ;  M.  G.  Michael,  Athens,  Ga. ;  I.  H.  Nakdimen, 
Ft.  Smith,  Ark.;  J.  G.  Joseph,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. ;  I.  W.  and  B. 
Bernheim,  Louisville,  Ky. ;  M.  Gardner,  Rome,  N.  Y. ;  Falk  Bros., 
Pittsburgh,  Pa.;  I.  Friedman,  Massena,  N.  Y. ;  Leopold  Adler, 
Savannah,  Ga. ;  Daniel  Rothschild,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. ;  D.  R.  and  I.  R. 
Travis,  Kansas  City,  Mo.;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jacob  Fish,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Isidore  Wolff,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Samuel  Rosoff,  Peekskill, 


24 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


N.  Y. ;  Harry  Grubinsky,  Kalamazoo,  Mich.;  Jacob  Ditten- 
hoefer,  St.  Paul,  Minn. ;  Simon  W.  Rosendale,  Albany,  N.  Y. ; 
M.  Brownstein,  Lewiston,  Me.;  Gustave  A.  Effroymson,  Samuel 
E.  Rauh,  Indianapolis,  Ind. ;  Isaac  Weinstein,  Waterbury,  Conn.; 
J.  R.  Einstein,  Kittanning-,  Pa.;  S.  S.  Bloch,  Wheeling,  W.  Va. ; 
Davidson  Bros.,  Sioux  City,  la.;  Jacob  Meyer,  Riverhead,  L.  I. 
Mark  Livingston  Estate,  Bloomington,  Ill.;  C.  M.  Guggenheimer, 
Lynchburg,  Va. ;  Ralph  Bros.,  Easton,  Pa.;  the  Joseph  and  Pol¬ 
lack  Families,  Cincinnati,  O.;  Isaac  Rubin,  Minneapolis,  Minn.; 
Hyman  Krupp,  El  Paso,  Texas;  Sidney  L.  Herold,  Shreveport, 
La.;  Samuel  B.  Asia,  Tacoma,  Wash.;  Henry  Kleinberg,  (Resi¬ 
dent  of  Ellensburg),  Seattle,  Wash.;  Leonard  I.  Frank,  Chat¬ 
tanooga,  Tenn.;  Julius  Freud,  Detroit,  Mich. 

Then  came  an  announcement  which  stirred  every  person 
present — men  and  women — to  a  wave  of  enthusiasm  which  has 
seldom  been  witnessed  in  any  assemblage.  In  Mr.  Marshall’s 
words  it  was  as  follows : 

“Mr.  Jacob  H.  Schiff,  during  the  past  week,  wrote  to  me 
that  he  is  prepared  to  give  the  sum  of  $100,000  to  be  applied  to 
the  establishment  of  a  hospital  unit  to  be  presented  by  American 
Jewry  to  the  Russian  people  in  recognition,  of  the  emancipation 
of  the  Jews  and  of  the  confidence,  the  admiration  and  the  love 
which  the  American  Jew  now  bears  to  Russia  as  having  given, 
at  last,  to  all  people  living  within  its  domain,  equality  of  right. 

“We  are  in  communication  with  the  proper  authorities  for 
the  purpose  of  obtaining  permission  to  make  this  gift  and  I  can 
say  that  I  have  pledges  from  a  considerable  number  of  Jewish 
surgeons  and  physicians  of  Russian  birth  and  Russian  parentage 
who  are  prepared  to  give  their  time,  their  energy  and  even  sacri¬ 
fice  their  health  and  their  lives,  if  need  be,  for  the  purpose  of 
carrying  out  this  beautiful  idea.” 

Golden  Words  and  Golden  Gifts. 

But  this  was  not  to  be  all.  Mr.  Schiff  here  called  upon  Dr. 
Magnes,  who,  again,  with  his  matchless  oratory,  produced  a 
golden  flow  of  money  to  meet  his  golden  flow  of  words.  With 
even  voice,  scarcely  raising  it  above  the  tone  of  ordinary  conver¬ 
sation,  he  said  in  his  peroration : 

“My  brothers  and  sisters,  I  ask  you  in  these  great,  momen¬ 
tous  days,  a  time  when  history  is  giving  birth  to  worlds  and  to 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


25 


lives,  shall  we  be  small  men  in  a  large  time,  or  shall  we  not  rise 
to  our  full  stature  as  free  Americans,  as  free  Jews,  battling  for 
the  freedom  of  our  eternal  people?  Money  is  asked,  will  you 
not  give  that  and  make  this  money  a  flame  of  fire  so  that  all  the 
world  may  be  lighted  and  all  the  world  may  be  warmed — open 
your  hearts,  free  your  minds,  lift  your  spirits  and  the  blessing 
.of  the  God  of  Israel,  who  neither  slumbereth  nor  sleepeth,  will 
rest  upon  you.” 

And  then  came  the  outpouring  of  money.  Such  an  out¬ 
pouring  as  is  nowhere  possible  except  in  a  Jewish  gathering.  Dr. 
Magnes  had,  indeed,  as  on  previous  occasions,  opened  the  well- 
springs  of  the  heart.  Mr.  Nathan  Straus  immediately  arose. 

He  said :  “I  never  envy  any  man  for  what  he  does,  but  I  am 
terribly  jealous  that  I  can’t  go  Mr.  Rosenwald  one  better.  I 
don’t  like  to  get  up  and  make  a  speech,  because  I  can’t.  I  will 
again  give  $50,000  now  to  start  with.” 

Nathan  Straus’  Sacrifice. 

Pandemonium  was  loosed.  When  he  could  be  heard  Mr. 
Schiff  declared  he  knew  it  to  be  a  fact  that  Mr.  Straus  had  gone 
without  many  of  the  comforts  and  pleasures  to  which  he  had, 
for  a  lifetime,  been  accustomed,  in  order  to  do  what  he  had  done 
and  that  Mr.  Straus  had  set  a  worthy  example  to  many  Jews  far 
richer  than  himself. 

Mr.  Marshall  then  arose  to  announce  additional  gifts  and  to 
receive  additional  ones.  From  then  on,  for  two  hours,  there  was 
a  constant  rush  of  men  and  women  to  give.  First  came  a  tele¬ 
gram  from  A.  D.  Lasker,  of  Chicago,  to  the  effect  that  that  city 
was  prepared  to  raise  $1,000,000  in  its  campaign  just  gotten  under 
way. 

Then  followed  these  announcements : 

Judge  Leon  Sanders,  for  Independent  Order  of  B’rith 

Abraham . $25,000.00  to  50,000.00 


Felix  M.  Warburg .  25,000.00 

Julius  Kayser .  25,000.00 

M.  M.  Travis  .  25,000.00 

C.  A.  Wimpfheimer  .  25,000.00 

James  Speyer  .  10,000.00 

Mrs.  Felix  Fuld,  through  Newark  Committee .  10,000.00 

Louis  Bamberger,  through  Newark  Committee  .  10,000.00 


26 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


Max  Adler,  through  Chicago  Committee .  10,000.00 

Herbert  H.  Lehman  .  10,000.00 

Samuel  Untermeyer  .  10,000.00 

In  memory  of  Mr.  Adolph  B.  Ansbacher .  5,000.00 

H.  P.  Goldschmidt  .  5,000.00 

George  Pick  .  5,000.00 

Aaron  Naumburg  .  5,000.00 

Henry  Wineburgl]  .  2,500.00 

S.  Schinasi  .  2,500.00 

Harry  Sachs  .  2,500.00 

Mrs.  Mayer  Lehman  .  2,500.00 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jerome  J.  Hanauer .  2,500.00 

R.  Sadowsky  .  2,500.00 

S.  G.  Rosenbaum  .  2,500.00 

Max  Lissberger  .  2,500.00 

Benjamin  Lissberger  .  2,500.00 

Nathan  J.  Miller  .  2,500.00 

Sigmund  Eisner  .  2,500.00 

Harry  Bronner  .  2,500.00 

Jacob  Hilder  . 2,000.00 

M.  J.  Sulzberger  .  1,500.00 

B.  Hochschild  . 1,500.00 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Julian  W.  Mack,  through  Chicago  Com.  1,500.00 

Abraham  Wineburgh  .  1,000.00 

Arthur  Sachs  .  1,000.00 

Jacob  H.  Rossbach  . 1,000.00 

Leopold  Rossbach  .  1,000.00 

Bernard  E.  Poliak  .  1,000.00 

Hon.  M.  Warley  Platzek .  1,000.00 

Robert  B.  Hirsch .  1,000.00 

Walter  Naumberg  .  1,000.00 

J.  B.  Greenhut  .  1,000.00 

Samuel  Eiseman  &  Co .  1,000.00 

Martin  Beckhard  .  1,000.00 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  August  Harmon  .  1,000.00 

Morris  S.  Barnet .  1,000.00 

Julius  J.  Dukas  .  1,000.00 

William  Fischman  .  1,000.00 

Adolph  ICastor  .  1,000.00 

Moses  Newborg  .  1,000.00 

H.  B.  Rosen  .  1,000.00 

Louis  J.  Robertson  .  1,000.00 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


27 


Julius  Schwartz  .  1,000.00 

Albert  Stern  .  1,000.00 

S.  N.  Travis  .  1,000.00 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Israel  Unterberg .  1,000.00 

Frank  Wolf  .  1,000.00 

Max  Weinstein  .  1,000.00 

Sol.  Wexler .  1,000.00 

W.  J.  Wollman  .  1,000.00 

Col.  and  Mrs.  H.  A.  Guinzburg .  1,000.00 

H.  Gardner  .  1,000.00 

E.  Berolzheimer  .  1,000.00 

Richard  Sidenberg  .  1,000.00 

Reuben  Arkush  .  1,000.00 


And  so  the  names  rang  out  ,some  for  large,  some  for  smaller 
amounts,  all  giving,  it  would  seem,  what  they  could,  down  even 
to  contributions  of  $50  each,  and  the  whole  making  a  total  of  cash 
received  on  a  single  evening  of  about  $500,000,  with  pledges 
from  individuals  and  from  communities  throughout  the  country 
of  a  round  $2,000,000  additional. 

Thus  we  find,  that,  within  little  more  than  a  month  from  the 
date  of  Mr.  Rosen wald’s  offer,  American  Jewry  is  ready  to  claim 
$200,000  of  the  amount  he  pledged  as  an  individual,  with  little 
doubt  remaining  that  long  before  the  time  limit  he  has  fixed  his 
whole  contribution  of  $1,000,000  will  have  been  called  for. 

Turning  Heart  Throbs  Into  Millions. 

We  marvel  at  what  has  been  done.  We  marvel  still  more 
at  what  it  is  proposed  to  do.  We  realize  it  is  one  thing  to  set 
afire  by  spirited  words  and  phrases  that  come  direct  from  the 
heart,  auditoriums  filled  with  excited,  sympathetic  people  whose 
blood  leaps  in  their  veins ;  quite  another  to  turn  into  millions 
of  money  these  sympathies  "and  tears. 

And  even  more  difficult  is  it  to  actually  gather  in  this  money 
from  the  rich,  the  middle  class  and  even  the  very  poor,  without 
too  great  a  percentage  of  cost  in  the  collections — the  rock  on 
which  many  a  charitable  enterprise  of  America  has  foundered. 
It  is  in  saving  cost  the  Jew  of  America,  who  has  been  aiding  his 
co-religionists  abroad,  has  excelled  all  his  compeers. 

Day  by  day,  for  more  than  two  years  now,  he  has  been  caus¬ 
ing  money  to  come  in  in  one  continuous  flow  for  his  relief  funds, 


28 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


checks,  big  and  little,  the  cash  contributions  of  the  small  busi¬ 
ness  man,  down  even  to  the  dime,  the  nickel,  the  penny  of  the 
greenhorn  operator  at  a  machine,  the  Yiddisher  lately  landed  here, 
who  can  speak  scarcely  any  English,  yet  who  dribbles  in  his  little 
payment  every  week. 

The  Jews’  Biggest  Achievement. 

This  collecting  of  millions,  at  a  cost  per  million,  of  practically 
nothing,  has  been  the  American  Jew’s  biggest  achievement. 
Yet,  the  way  he  has  done  it  has  not  been  wonderful.  It  has 
simply  been  the  close,  scientific,  practical  application  of  modern 
business  methods.  A  great  financial  machine,  adapted  to  the 
situation’s  special  requirements  has  been  kept  running,  steadily, 
month  after  month.  The  way  it  has  been  run  has  compelled  the 
admiration  of  every  non-Jew  who  has  been  permitted  a  glimpse 
of  its  operation. 

See  what  the  American  Jew  had  to  do.  He  had  to  deal 
with  a  people  like  no  other  in  the  world,  at  one  moment  emo¬ 
tional,  tearful,  excited,  ready  to  empty  pockets,  give  jewels,  make 
out  checks ;  the  next,  cool,  collected,  calculating.  More  than 
this,  he  had  many  an  element  to  handle,  the  millionaire,  the 
multi-millionaire,  grown  rich  in  America,  now  fully  American¬ 
ized  ;  the  people  striving  to  get  to  the  top,  with  a  good  start, 
though  still  not  rich,  ardent  Americans  all;  a  great  group  of 
Orthodox,  prosperous,  yet  still  supporting  the  old  Faith  of  Moses 
in  every  detail,  and  the  “foreigner,”  not  yet  a  real  American, 
filling  the  poorer  quarters  of  a  score  of  American  cities. 

“Kol  Demay  Achecho  Tzeokim  Eilecho”  (The  Voice  of  the 
Blood  of  Thy  Brother  Calleth  Unto  Thee),  “Hayesh  Machov 
Kemachovy”  (Was  there  ever  any  sorrow  like  unto  our  sorrow?). 
These  phrases  were  called  out  again  and  again  when  the  great  meet¬ 
ings  were  over,  the  excitement  had  died  down  and  men  who  had 
sobbed  and  cried,  and  in  those  hours  of  compassion,  had  felt  them¬ 
selves  willing  to  give  their  all  to  save  their  brethren  abroad,  found 
themselves  once  more  in  their  accustomed  haunts  of  trafficking, 
making  each  penny  do  the  work  of  several,  straining  every  nerve 
commercially. 

“Hayesh  Machov  Kemaichovy”  over  and  over  again,  in  Yiddish 
circular  and  in  English,  the  words  were  repeated  and  in  every  corner 
of  the  country  Jews,  rich  and  poor,  were  reached,  not  once,  but  many 
times,  that  the  plea  so  eloquently  made  from  the  platform  might 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


29 


never  lose  its  effect.  No  manufacturer  sending  out  a  group  of 
salesmen,  or  mail-order  house  dispatching  selling  literature  by  the 
ton,  ever  “covered”  “possibilities”  more  carefully,  looked  more 
closely  into  “prospects.” 

A  Money  Raising  Machine. 

A  great,  successful,  admirably  administered  business  edifice 
is  reared — a  triumph  of  money  raising  ingenuity.  No  great 
groups  of  administrative  officers  anywhere,  with  highly  paid 
executives,  rich  furniture,  costly  arrays  of  secretaries  and  clerks. 
But,  here  and  there,  plain,  simple,  meagerly  fitted  out  sets  of 
rooms.  Individually,  for  their  personal  affairs,  the  bankers  and 
business  men  who  have  taken  an  active  part  in  building  up  these 
Jewish  relief  funds,  have  in  many  cases  costly  suites  and  high 
priced  staffs,  but  for  this  “trust”  they  hold  so  dear  and  in  the 
handling  of  which  they  give  free  and  without  fee,  many  an  hour 
that  would  be  invaluable  in  the  commercial  world,  not  one  single 
fraction  of  a  dollar  must  be  spent  that  can  be  avoided. 

For  only  a  Jew  who  came  to  this  country  with  a  few  roubles, 
a  mere  handful  of  marks  in  his  clothing,  a  generation  ago,  knows 
how  hard  it  is  to  gain  a  dollar,  even  in  the  cause  of  charity ; 
how  easily  a  great  part  of  that  dollar  may  slip  away  in  expenses. 
The  war  in  Europe  has  brought  one  mighty  lesson  to  America. 
It  has  shown  what  charity  administration,  on  a  great  scale,  may 
become;  how  unnecessary  expenses  may  be  eliminated  and  yet 
the  utmost  of  efficiency  obtained. 

Simple  furniture,  groups  of  girl  clerks,  with  here  and  there 
a  man  guiding  them ;  not  much  room,  and  that  little  heaped  up 
with  persuasive  literature,  is  the  sight  disclosed  in  all  the  offices. 
At  some  of  these  “headquarters”  we  find  typewriting  machines 
with  Yiddish  type  and  Rabbis  who  look  almost  as  if  they  had 
that  day  come  from  Poland,  Galicia,  Lithuania  or  Palestine. 
These  are  the  characteristics  of  the  “arms”  of  the  great  machine 
with  which  modern  Jewry,  reaching  out  all  over  the  country  from 
its  four  stations  in  New  York,  first  raised  over  Six  Millions  of 
Dollars  and  is  now  raising  Ten  more.  It  has  been  a  mighty  task 
to  build  up  this  huge  machine,  for  many  interests,  many  differ¬ 
ent  sorts  of  men  and  women,  many  views  of  life,  many  phases  of 
religion  make  up  Judaism  in  America.  Only  consummate  skill 
could  have  accomplished  the  weaving  together  of  all  for  one 
common  end. 


30 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


The  Wheels  Within  Wheels. 

Three  “Committees,”  each  independent,  each  working  along 
its  own  lines,  make  up  the  great  machine.  In  New  York’s  down¬ 
town  financial  center,  at  52  William  Street,  where  “big  business” 
and  banking  and  commercial  houses  operate  on  the  hugest  scales, 
and  at  30  East  42nd  Street,  in  the  heart  of  New  York’s  fashion 
center,  close  to  Fifth  Avenue,  is  the  American  Jewish  Relief 
Committee,  composed  in  the  main  of  the  very  wealthy  and  in 
most  cases  the  “Reformed” — that  is,  radical  modern  Jews  of 
America. 

Where  the  Brooklyn  Bridge  begins,  in  the  most  crowded 
section  of  New  York,  where  from  five  o’clock  on,  each  evening, 
clerks  of  both  sexes,  business  men  and  factory  operatives  start 
to  go  home — at  No.  51  Chambers  Street — are  three  rooms  where 
the  Central  Relief  Committee  holds  forth,  the  organization  that 
has  appealed  with  a  vast  success  to  the  Orthodox  Jews  of  Amer¬ 
ica;  Jews  that  are  living  in  comfort,  not  rich,  but  with  hopes, 
slowly  climbing  up,  true  to  the  faith  of  their  Fathers,  still  speak¬ 
ing  Yiddish  in  their  home-life,  but  stalwart  Americans,  just  the 
same.  From  30,000  of  these  people,  or  groups  of  people, — there 
have  been  over  that  number,  of  distinct  contributions — the  Cen¬ 
tral  Committee  has  in  a  year  and  a  half  collected  more  than  a 
million  and  a  half  of  dollars. 

King  Midas  and  His  Brother. 

The  poor  Jew,  however,  would  be  unlikely  to  make  his  way 
to  these  headquarters  to  give  his  money.  Rather  he  would  not 
know  how  to.  Yet  Jewish  relief  admits  of  no  distinction  of  per¬ 
sons.  Here  the  Democracy,  the  true  Democracy  of  the  whole 
plan  of  fund  raising  plainly  reveals  itself.  The  nickel  of  the  poor 
man  is  as  good  as  the  ten  thousand  dollar  check  of  Baruch 
Eleazer  Midas,  the  railroad  magnate.  No,  not  quite  as  good, 
of  course,  for  it  takes  200,000  nickels  to  make  $10,000.  But  the 
nickel  is  just  as  essential.  In  nickels,  in  dimes  and  in  quarters 
alone,  $900,000,  almost  a  million  dollars,  an  incredible  sum,  in¬ 
credible  until  it  is  seen  just  how  it  was  assembled,  has  been 
collected  in  fifteen  months. 

The  $900,000  is  the  work  of  a  third  factor,  the  People’s  Re¬ 
lief  Committee.  Where  rich  Quakers  of  New  York  had  beauti¬ 
ful  homes  three-quarters  of  a  century  ago,  on  a  broad  street 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


31 


called  East  Broadway,  is  now  the  center  of  the  poor,  the  strug¬ 
gling  Jewry  of  the  Metropolis,  the  abode  of  the  “greener.”  It 
is  here  the  Jew  just  landed  in  America  generally  takes  up  his 
quarters,  for  a  little  time  at  least.  Except  for  some  shop-keep¬ 
ers  and  real  estate  owners,  push-cart  men,  tailors  and  the  like 
are  the  chief  factors  in  the  population,  the  family  income  seldom 
running  over  twenty  dollars  a  week.  That  family  that  is  sure  of 
twenty  dollars  weekly,  steadily,  is  thrice  prosperous.  In  the  next 
generation  its  daughters  will  be  found  to  have  married  well,  its 
sons  to  have  become  prosperous  professional  and  business  men. 
To-day,  however,  the  families  are  poor  and  struggling.  Many 
have  nothing  like  twenty  dollars  a  week  for  the  support  of  hus¬ 
band,  wife  and  seven  or  eight  children,  mayhap  the  parents’ 
parents  as  well.  Yet  from  people  like  these  in  New  York  and 
their  like  in  other  cities  and  towns  in  every  state  $900,000  for  the 
relief  of  their  suffering  kin  abroad  has  been  raised  in  fifteen 
months. 

The  “People’s”  Committee. 

At  196  East  Broadway,  by  the  great  Jewish  Educational 
Alliance,  famed  all  over  America,  organized  to  teach  Ameri¬ 
canism  and  the  American  language  and  customs  to  the  Jewish 
immigrant;  adjoining  a  branch  of  the  New  York  Public  Li¬ 
brary  and  but  a  square  away  from  the  center  of  Jewish  news- 
paperdom,  the  third  factor  of  this  war  relief  collecting,  the 
People’s  Committee,  is  established  on  the  second  floor  of  an  old 
building,  one  flight  up  from  the  street.  It  deals  only  with  the 
working  classes,  laboring  to  get  in  only  the  tiniest  sums  each 
week,  but  stretching  out  its  manifold  arms  throughout  the 
country,  wherever  there  is  a  Jew  or  the  sign  of  a  Jew.  It  has 
regularly  5,000  to  6,000  volunteer  collectors  and  on  occasions  as 
many  as  15,000  to  20,000. 

The  authors  of  this  book  have  come  into  less  close  contact 
with  the  officers  of  the  People’s  Committee,  than  with  those  of 
the  other  two  committees  engaged  in  collecting  funds,  but  have 
seen  enough  to  realize  that  this  committee  has  been  a  most  es¬ 
sential  factor  in  the  broad  plan  of  Jewish  War  Relief  as  under¬ 
taken  by  American  Jewry.  Representative  Meyer  London  is 
the  Chairman  of  the  committee,  of  which  Mr.  Sholom  Goldberg 
is  treasurer,  and  Morris  Zuckerman  the  general  manager  of  the 
committee’s  office.  Among  the  large  number  of  other  prominent 


32 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


Jews  active  on  this  committee  are:  Sholom  Ash,  Alexander 
Kahn,  Louis  Lipsky  and  Morris  Rothenberg,  of  New  York,  to¬ 
gether  with  many  others  in  the  principal  cities  of  the  country. 

The  Instrument  That  Spends. 

The  three  “committees”  named  simply  collect.  Day  by  day 
they  add  to  their  funds,  guarding  each  penny  of  outgo  jealously, 
heaping  up  their  collections  temporarily  in  banks.  Enter  now 
the  fourth  factor  of  all,  what  in  a  great  business  would  be  the 
sales  department,  as  the  three  “committees”  are  the  manufactur¬ 
ing  end.  The  fourth  organization,  the  Joint  Distribution  Com¬ 
mittee,  located  at  20  Exchange  Place,  in  the  heart  of  New  York’s 
money  district,  sees  that  the  funds  reach  their  destinations,  no 
matter  for  what  part  of  the  globe  they  are  intended. 

This  Joint  Distribution  Committee  is  the  simplest  and  yet 
most  complex  of  machines.  It  is  composed  of  representatives 
of  the  three  other  committees  and  includes  on  it  men  of  super¬ 
latively  great  banking  ability,  some  of  the  nation’s  best  financiers. 
Among  its  members  are  men  who  have  wide  influence  in  Europe, 
in  the  countries  of  both  groups  of  belligerents.  Others  are  most 
agreeably  regarded  in  Washington  and  throughout  government 
and  diplomatic  circles  generally.  Working  in  concert  with  repre¬ 
sentative  relief  committees  in  the  centers  abroad  and  in  the  dis¬ 
tricts  w'here  help  is  most  needed,  these  men  have  been  able  to 
send  money  where  it  has  done  the  largest  good,  and  in  addition 
to  this  to  transmit  many  thousands  of  dollars  abroad  to  dis¬ 
tressed  families  directly  from  their  relatives  here. 

In  a  modest  room  a  little  group  of  men,  quickly,  make  the 
moves  and  out  goes  a  stream  of  money,  cabled  in  a  great  sum  and 
eventually  to  trickle  into  the  smallest  towns  to  buy  bread  and 
soup.  The  dimes  of  David  of  Cleveland,  Jacob  of  Atlanta,  Isaac 
of  Los  Angeles  combined  with  those  of  others  find  their  way  into 
a  village  of  Poland,  Birsche;  perhaps  Daugi,  or  Schereschowo, 
there  to  save  a  mother’s  life,  to  bring  back  color  to  the  cheeks  of 
a  tiny  Isidore  or  a  little  Esther  and  make  it  possible  for  them  to 
walk  again. 

Personal  appeals  best  reach  the  rich  Jew,  appeals  from  his 
friends,  business  associates,  even  rivals  in  the  world  of  trade. 
It  is  by  such  methods  that  the  American  Jewish  Relief  Commit¬ 
tee  and  its  branch  committees  in  many  cities  get  in  the  large 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


33 


sized  checks  and  the  smaller  ones.  The  American  Committee, 
as  was  probably  to  have  been  expected,  has  raised  the  largest 
proportion  of  the  total  contributions  for  war  relief — well  over 
the  $4,000,000  mark. 

One  of  its  most  effective  methods  of  securing  contributions 
has  been  through  the  formation  of  a  Business  Men’s  League,  of 
which  Jacob  Wertheim  was  the  chairman,  and  by  which  means 
financiers  have  appealed  directly  to  other  financiers  of  their  ac¬ 
quaintance,  cloak  and  suit  manufacturers  to  cloak  and  suit  manu¬ 
facturers,  lawyers  to  lawyers,  merchants  to  merchants,  not  only 
in  one  city,  but  by  correspondence  and  in  some  cases  even  trips, 
getting  in  touch  with  men  of  like  pursuits  in  various  sections  of 
the  country. 

The  most  important  men  in  Jewry  from  the  viewpoint  of 
wealth  and  social  position,  men  whose  names  are  known  in  every 
Jewish  home  and  to  thousands  of  non-Jews  through  the  variety 
of  their  activities  and  the  diversity  of  their  achievements  consti¬ 
tute  the  American  Committee. 

The  Nation  Embraced. 

Not  only  in  New  York,  but  in  every  other  city  of  importance 
in  the  United  States,  men  of  this  calibre  comprise  the  branch 
organizations  the  committee  has  established.  The  organizations 
in  other  cities  have  been  sponsors  for  a  series  of  great  mass  meet¬ 
ings  which  have  been  addressed  by  Rabbi  Leon  Harrison  of  St. 
Louis;  Dr.  Stephen  S.  Wise  of  New  York;  Judge  Julian  W. 
Mack,  of  Chicago;  Dr.  Nathan  Krass,  of  Brooklyn;  Dr.  David 
Philipson,  of  Cincinnati ;  Mortimer  L.  Schiff,  Dr.  Magnes  and 
other  men,  famed  among  their  people,  who  have  made  transcon¬ 
tinental  trips,  time  and  again,  to  arouse  sympathy  in  and  support 
for  the  cause. 

Some  Strong  Personalities. 

The  American  Relief  Committee’s  new  campaign  has  had 
the  advantage  of  some  strong  personalities  in  the  forming  and 
carrying  out  of  its  plans.  There  has  been,  in  addition  to  Mr. 
Billikopf,  who  was  called  from  important  social  and  philanthropic 
work  in  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  especially  to  act  as  executive  Direc¬ 
tor,  Mr.  George  Creel,  the  journalist,  now  Army  and  Navy  news¬ 
paper  Censor,  for  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  by  ap- 


34 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


pointment  of  President  Wilson,  and  who,  prior  to  assuming  his 
new  duties,  acted  in  an  advisory  capacity  as  to  the  committee’s 
publicity. 

There  has  also  been  Mr.  Manny  Strauss,  who  a  year  or  two 
back,  came  to  New  York,  unheralded  and  unknown,  and  whose 
genius  for  organization  and  for  money  getting  was  contributed 
early  in  the  history  of  war  relief  work  and,  who  later,  by  reason 
of  his  success,  came  to  be  consulted  by  the  leaders  of  Jewry  in 
their  larger  philanthropic  undertakings.  Nor  should  mention  be 
omitted  of  Mr.  Boris  Fingerhood,  who,  as  manager  of  the  cam¬ 
paign,  has  performed  with  the  efficiency  gained  from  many  years 
of  experience,  the  vast  amount  of  detail  work  involved. 

The  Committee  has  also  had  the  benefit  of  the  advice  and 
co-operation  of  Miss  Harriett  B.  Lowenstein,  who  has  exerted  a 
remarkable  influence  upon  war  relief  work  from  the  date  of  the 
organization  of  that  committee,  as  she  has  upon  every  one  of  the 
many  activities  with  which  she  has  been  identified.  Miss  Lowen- 
stein’s  knowledge  of  conditions,  both  here  and  abroad,  her  open- 
mindedness  and  her  ability  to  act  and  to  advise  with  “charity 
toward  all  and  malice  toward  none,”  have  been  important  factors 
in  the  results  accomplished. 

What  the  Rabbis  Have  Done. 

The  work  of  the  American  Committee  has  further  been 
greatly  aided  by  the  influence  with  their  flocks  of  the  Reformed 
Rabbis  who  have  exhorted  their  congregations  both  to  work  and 
to  give  liberally. 

Other  systems  have,  however,  been  needed  to  reach  the  mass 
of  Jews  of  the  country.  Some  of  these  systems  have  been  highly 
interesting  and  have  shown  much  knowledge  of  psychology.  The 
Central  Committee,  for  example,  has  sent  out  great  quantities 
of  striking  and  cleverly  illustrated  literature,  and  has  issued 
special  appeals  for  special  days,  seasons  and  holidays,  dear  to 
Jews.  These  have  been  chiefly  the  work  of  Stanley  Bero,  man¬ 
ager  of  the  committee’s  campaign,  a  bright,  resourceful  young 
Jew,  long  identified  with  philanthropic  work  and  knowing  inti¬ 
mately  the  traits  of  the  persons,  throughout  the  country,  with 
whom  he  has  had  to  deal.  Here  is  one  that  comes  with  the  most 
telling  force  to  the  Orthodox  Jew  enjoying  every  comfort  in  his 
American  home : 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


a 


YETZIATH  MIZRAIM— THE  EXODUS. 

The  millions  of  the  Children  of  Israel  gladly  went  forth 
from  Egypt.  It  was  the  beginning  of  a  journey  which  was 
to  end  in  the  Promised  Land — freedom,  happiness.  How 
different  the  story  now,  the  involuntary  wanderings  of  mod¬ 
ern  Israel  to-day !  Fleeing  before  the  invaders — driven  by 
the  defenders ! 

THE  FIRST  PASSOVER ! 

How  joyous  was  the  first  Passover ! 

This  Passover,  what? 

Mother  and  babies  huddling  in  the  biting  cold;  wives 
waiting  in  vain  for  the  husband  who  will  never  return.  And 
the  children,  who  but  yesterday  sang  the  Plallel,  and  the 
Adir  Huh,  the  Chad  Gadyah  and  the  other  Festival  hymns, 
now  recite  the  Kinoth,  as  if  it  were  Tisho  B’ab.  Mothers 
who  had  looked  forward  to  dress  their  little  ones  in  their 
best,  have  seen  them  clad  in  shrouds.  Instead  of  singing 
a  lullaby  over  their  cribs,  thousands  upon  thousands  of 
Jewish  mothers  have  rent  their  garments  at  their  grave¬ 
sides,  where  now  they  rest  in  eternal  sleep. 

MIRIAM  AND  THE  WOMEN  OF  ISRAEL  WITH 
TIMBRELS  IN  THEIR  HANDS  SANG  AND  DANCED: 
TO-DAY  IT  IS  THE  DIRGE  OF  DEATH— 

THE  HOUSE  OF  ISRAEL  IS  IN  MOURNING. 

The  President’s  Proclamation. 

Certificates  were  issued,  stamps  went  out,  little  banks  were 
distributed.  In  eighteen  months  the  certificates  brought  in 
$43,000,  the  stamps  $73,000.  In  February,  1915,  President  Wilson 
was  induced  to  issue  a  proclamation  appointing  a  National  Jew¬ 
ish  Relief  Day,  for  which  contributions  were  especially  asked. 
Proclamation  certificates  of  varying  denominations  were  given 
in  return  for  contributions  and  brought  in  $97,000.  This  year 
there  has  been  the  “Week  of  Mercy,”  which  has  secured 
more  for  the  cause.  For  this  the  relatively  small  municipality  of 
Sioux  City,  Iowa,  alone  gave  $8,000  and  from  Attleboro,  Mass., 
where  there  are  only  thirty-five  Jewish  families,  there  came 
$1,426.  The  “Week  of  Mercy”  of  1917  has  already  netted  over 
$60,000  with  the  returns  from  many  distant  points  not  yet  in. 


36 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


A  picture  in  a  circular  sent  out  shows  the  weary  march  of 
Jewish  refugees  in  Poland.  They  are  foot-sore,  hungry — suffer¬ 
ing  beyond  belief.  One  bearded  Jew  carries  a  starving  young 
girl  in  his  arms.  Beside  him  is  an  old,  almost  exhausted  Rabbi, 
bearing  the  scrolls  of  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant.  The  picture  is 
pitiable,  piteous.  Under  it  is  this  cry  to  American  Jewry: 

“Suppose  you  and  yours  were  in  this  march? 

“America  has  indeed  been  a  blessing  to  you.  Be  a  blessing 
unto  your  people !”  says  another  printed  appeal. 

To  direct  the  Yiddish  part  of  the  Central  Committee’s  cam¬ 
paign,  Rabbi  Aaron  Teitelbaum  was  fortunately  secured.  Rabbi 
Teitelbaum  is  a  man  of  wide  attainments,  of  much  aggressive¬ 
ness  and  possesses  a  keen  insight  into  the  minds  and  hearts  of 
the  very  large  number  of  Jews  speaking  Yiddish  to  which  the 
committee  has  appealed. 

The  Central  Committee’s  Task. 

The  chairman  of  the  Central  Committee  is  Leon  Kamaiky, 
proprietor  of  the  Jewish  Daily  News  of  New  York  and  who  has 
lent  prestige  and  confidence  to  the  efforts  it  has  put  forth. 
Among  the  vice-chairmen  are:  Peter  Wiernik,  editor  of  the 
Jewish  Morning  Journal  of  New  York,  another  man  with  large 
influence  among  the  Jewish  population  of  the  metropolis,  and 
Rabbi  Israel  Rosenberg,  Rabbi  Meyer  Berlin,  and  Julius  J.  Dukas. 

Much  of  the  active  direction  of  the  work  has  devolved  upon 
the  committee’s  treasurer,  Harry  Fischel,  who  has  unselfishly 
devoted  practically  all  of  his  time  to  the  work,  though  a  man  of 
large  business  interests.  Mr.  Fischel  has  had  upon  his  shoul¬ 
ders  the  detail  of  recording  and  acknowledging  the  thousands  of 
individual  contributions  and  has  had,  as  well,  a  large  part  in  the 
planning  and  prosecution  of  the  successful  appeals  for  funds. 

Yet  money  does  not  always  come  easily,  quickly.  The 
speakers  who  address  gatherings  do  not  always  find  it  easy 
to  impress  upon  their  hearers  the  urgent  need,  the  dire  necessity. 
Once  the  story  “gets  over,”  however,  the  response  is,  almost 
without  fail,  generous.  In  a  St.  Louis  synagogue  some  months 
ago  the  Rabbi,  an  Orthodox  Jew,  had  besought  his  congregation 
to  give  a  certain  sum.  The  individual  contributions  were  small. 
The  people  were  not  deeply  moved.  They  were,  indeed,  apa¬ 
thetic. 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


37 


The  Story  of  the  Watch. 

Finally,  the  Rabbi  took  from  his  pocket  a  huge,  old-fashioned 
silver  watch.  It  was  the  gift  to  him  from  his  congregation  in 
Poland  before  he  came  to  America. 

“I  cannot  wear  this  watch  while  our  people  are  suffering, 
while  our  brothers  and  sisters  starve,”  he  told  his  hearers.  “I 
shall  give  this  watch  to  save  them,”  he  added,  as  he  placed  the 
ancient  time-piece  in  one  of  the  collection  vessels. 

This  act  struck  home.  It  aroused  the  congregation  to  the 
true  significance  of  the  situation  abroad. 

A  man  of  the  congregation  stood  up. 

“We  will  not  allow  our  Rabbi  to  make  this  sacrifice,”  he  said. 
“Let  him  keep  the  watch.  I  will  give  $50  to  buy  it,  and  will  give 
it  back  to  him.” 

“That  is  not  enough,”  said  another  man.  “The  watch  is 
worth  more  than  that.  I  will  give  $70 !”  Still  others  bid  to 
buy  the  watch  to  return  it  to  the  Rabbi,  the  proceeds  to  go  to 
the  war  sufferers.  Finally  $120  had  been  raised  in  this  way. 

Other  examples  of  self-sacrifice  as  striking  as  that  of  this 
Rabbi  have  been  many.  It  has  not  been  at  all  unusual  for  young 
women,  with  the  consent  of  their  intended  husbands,  to  give  their 
engagement  rings.  This  has  occurred  over  and  over  again  in 
different  parts  of  the  country.  Wives  have  even  given  their 
wedding  rings.  Children  their  baubles  and  trinkets. 

Going  After  the  Mites. 

With  the  working  people  among  the  Jews,  pledges  of  five 
or  ten  cents  and  sometimes,  though  not  frequently,  up  to  a  quar¬ 
ter,  the  amounts  collected  weekly,  have  been  the  most  successful. 
So  well  has  this  system  worked  out,  that  the  People’s  Relief 
Committee  is  planning  in  the  near  future,  in  the  cities  and  towns 
throughout  the  country,  block  to  block  collections  in  which  every 
Jewish  family  in  the  working  class  will  be  visited  weekly.  It 
is  known  that  many  are  now  missed,  and  will  not  contribute  un¬ 
less  they  are  personally  approached,  and  the  relief  work  ex¬ 
plained  to  them  in  their  own  tongue. 

Strangely  enough,  New  York  does  not  lead  relatively  in 
this  collection  from  the  working  people.  Cleveland  is  ahead, 
with  Detroit  second,  and  Boston  third.  Kansas  City  has  done 


38 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


admirably.  Los  Angeles  has  made  one  of  the  best  records,  and 
for  its  size,  little  Perth  Amboy  in  New  Jersey,  very  nearly  leads 
the  country. 

The  collectors  are  chiefly  women,  and  they  find  their  most 
satisfactory  results  in  dealing  with  the  women  of  the  families 
they  visit.  Eighty  per  cent,  of  the  women  who  agree  to  con¬ 
tribute  weekly  keep  to  their  word.  The  collectors  carry  little 
books  containing  blank  receipts  for  five  and  ten  cents  and  give 
one  of  these  for  every  payment.  The  collectors  wear  a  pale 
blue  ribbon  on  their  arm  with  the  name  of  the  People’s  Relief 
Committee  printed  upon  it.  The  ribbon  constitutes  the  collec¬ 
tor’s  credentials.  The  collections  are  usually  made  on  Sunday. 

Another  profitable  source  of  revenue  with  the  People’s  Re¬ 
lief  Committee  has  proved  the  Jewish  balls  and  other  social 
functions,  weddings  and  the  like,  in  the  public  halls  in  the  big 
cities.  The  collectors  have  no  difficulty  in  gaining  admittance, 
and  are  allowed  to  circulate  among  the  guests.  As  much  as 
$150  has  been  collected  at  a  single  affair.  Very  frequently  as 
much  as  $50. 

Let  us  for  a  few  moments  examine  the  mechanism  of  this 

great  charitable  instrument,  the  workings  of  which  we  have 

described.  Let  us  see  how  it  was  builded. 

* 

What  Happened  in  18  Days. 

We  find,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  construction  of  the  ma¬ 
chine  began  even  before  its  need  was  clearly  apparent.  In  other 
words,  with  rare  vision  and  understanding,  of  the  potentialities 
of  the  war,  in  the  causing  of  suffering  and  want  among  non- 
combatants,  the  first  step  toward  American  Jewish  War  Relief 
was  taken  on  August  18,  1914,  only  eighteen  days  after  the  out¬ 
break  of  hostilities  among  the  chief  belligerents.  The  men  who 
started  the  great  ball  rolling  were  not  the  rich  men  of  the  race, 
nor  the  powerful.  They  were,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  Albert  Lucas 
and  Morris  Engelman,  secretaries  of  the  Union  of  Orthodox 
Jewish  Congregations  of  America.  After  several  conferences 
these  men,  together  with  Dr.  Bernard  Drachman,  President  of 
the  Union,  on  September  28,  sent  telegrams  throughout  the 
United  States,  to  constituent  congregations  of  the  Union,  appeal¬ 
ing  for  funds.  From  that  time  until  the  present  Mr.  Engelman 
has  volunteered  and  given  his  services  unstintingly  to  the  cause. 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


39 


Here  again  we  see  the  homogeneity  of  the  race  emphasized. 
For  the  more  influential  personalities  in  American  Jewry  did 
not  hesitate  to  follow  the  lead  of  those  less  influential.  The 
sharp  divisions  of  opinion  which  characterize  Jews,  no  less  than 
others,  were  forgotten  in  the  common  cause.  Reform  Jew  joined 
with  Orthodox,  Zionist  with  Assimilationist,  and  those  best  fitted 
to  direct  the  work  were  chosen,  irrespective  of  that  faction  in 
Jewry  with  which,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  events,  they  were 
identified. 

The  first  conference  led  to  the  organization  on  October  4, 
1914,  of  the  Central  Committee  for  the  Relief  of  Jews  Suffering 
Through  the  War,  and  it  was  but  two  weeks  afterwards  when 
the  first  remittances,  $5,000  for  Palestine  and  $5,000  for  Galicia 
were  forwarded  by  this  committee. 

On  October  25,  1914.  the  second  of  the  three  relief  commit¬ 
tees,  the  American  Jewish  Relief  Committee,  came  into  being, 
while  on  November  27,  of  the  same  year,  the  Joint  Distribution 
Committee  was  formed  of  representatives  from  the  American  and 
Central  Committees. 

Bridging  Thousands  of  Miles. 

Next  came  the  organization  within  the  Joint  Distribution 
Committee  by  January  1,  1915,  of  the  Remittance  Bureau,  which 
has  forwarded  money  amounting  to  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
dollars  from  American  Jews  direct  to  relatives  in  the  stricken 
countries.  Through  this  bureau  an  average  of  $1,000  a  day  has 
been  sent  abroad — money  which  it  was  impossible  to  forward 
through  any  governmental  or  other  private  agency.  In  many 
cases  the  people  thus  reached  could  not  even  be  located  through 
other  channels.  Remittances  are  forwarded  without  cost  to  the 
sender.  The  bureau  has  also  been  the  best  means  by  which  refu¬ 
gees  in  the  warring  countries  could  communicate  with  their 
relatives  in  America.  Many  affecting  scenes  have  been  enacted 
within  the  bureau  when  messages  have  been’ received  by  sons  and 
daughters,  brothers  and  sisters,  parents  and  grandparents  from 
relatives  in  far  off  lands  who  would  otherwise  have  been  lost 
to  each  other. 

The  third  of  the  three  committees  constituting  the  Joint 
Distribution  Committee,  the  People’s  Relief  Committee,  was 
formed  on  August  6,  1915.  The  three  committees  have  organized 


40 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


in  every  state  in  the  Union,  have  collected  funds  from  Cuba, 
Porto  Rico,  Alaska,  Central  and  South  America — even  from 
China  and  Australia.  Not  a  city  or  village  in  which  a  single 
Jew  is  to  be  found  has  been  overlooked. 

More  Than  $8,000,000  Distributed. 

To  be  exact,  the  last  statement  of  Herbert  H.  Lehman,  the 
treasurer  of  the  Joint  Distribution  Committee,  issued  in  April, 
1917,  shows  a  total  of  more  than  $8,200,000,  collected  by  the 
three  committees  and  distributed  by  the  Joint  Distribution  Com¬ 
mittee.  Not  a  part  of  Europe  or  Palestine  where  Jews  are  suf¬ 
fering  has  failed  to  receive  assistance.  To  Russia  has  gone  a 
total  of  $2,150,000 ;  to  Poland  and  Lithuania  $2,414,634.04 ;  to 
Austria-Hungary,  including  Galicia,  $1,578,000 ;  to  Palestine, 
$805,288.69,  and  proportionate .  sums  to  Greece,  Turkey,  Syria, 
Egypt,  Roumania,  Servia,  Smyrna,  Bulgaria,  Tunis,  Algiers  and 
Morocco,  Switzerland,  and  to  Russian  Jews  in  France  and  Turk¬ 
ish  Jewish  refugees  in  Spain.  Help  has  been  extended  to  three 
continents  and  to  fourteen  distinct  countries.  Mr.  M.  M.  David¬ 
son,  who  has  assisted  the  Treasurer  in  the  office  of  the  Trans¬ 
mission  Bureau,  has  been  an  admittedly  valuable  factor  in  the 
intricate  and  frequently  difficult  work  the  Bureau  has  accom¬ 
plished. 

Relief  ships  with  food,  medicines  and  supplies  have  also  been 
sent  abroad  through  co-operation  with  the  State  and  Navy  De¬ 
partments  of  the  United  States,  and  with  the  consent  of  foreign 
governments,  and  arrangements  have  been  made  for  the  bringing 
to  America  from  the  Far  East  of  hundreds  of  refugees. 

Not  even  the  supplying  of  Matzoths  for  the  Feast  of  the 
Passover  was  overlooked. 

What  the  Women  Have  Done. 

Not  the  men  alone,  but  the  women  as  well,  have  played  a 
large  part  in  this  drama  of  humanity,  this  story  of  munificence, 
played  a  part  not  only  as  givers  but  as  organizers. 

Early  in  the  war  the  Women’s  Proclamation  Committee  was 
formed.  Its  first  object  was  to  take  advantage  of  President  Wil¬ 
son’s  Proclamation  of  1915  in  behalf  of  the  Jews  suffering  in  the 
war  by  selling  the  certificates  issued  by  the  Central  Committee 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


41 


to  commemorate  this  unique  event  in  American  Jewish  history. 
Its  officers  were :  Mrs.  Samuel  Elkeles,  Chairman,  and  Mrs. 
Harry  Kraft,  Treasurer. 

Later,  when  the  temporary  work  for  which  it  had  been 
formed  was  completed  with  satisfactory  results,  a  permanent 
organization  was  founded  with  Mrs.  Elkeles  as  Chairman,  Mrs. 
Alfred  Blumenthal,  Treasurer,  and  Mrs.  Albert  Lucas,  Execu¬ 
tive  Secretary.  The  Committee  has  branches  throughout  the 
United  States,  each  engaged  in  the  task  of  adding  to  the  funds 
to  alleviate  distress. 

A  main  office  is  located  at  203  Broadway,  New  York  City, 
and  the  funds  collected  are,  like  those  of  the  three  principal 
committees,  distributed  through  the  Joint  Distribution  Com¬ 
mittee. 

The  Women’s  Proclamation  Committee,  as  has  been  true 
of  all  the  bodies  engaged  in  raising  funds,  has  been  galvanized 
into  new  activity  by  the  pledge  of  Julius  Rosenwald  and  recently 
held  a  successful  mass  meeting  in  New  York  which  was  ad¬ 
dressed  by  Dr.  Stephen  S.  Wise,  ex-Deputy  Controller  N.  Taylor 
Phillips,  of  New  York  City,  and  a  number  of  prominent  women 
and  at  which  steps  were  taken  to  intensify  the  effort  of  the 
Jewish  women  of  America  in  behalf  of  the  cause. 

The  Council  of  Jewish  Women,  a  national  organization,  of 
which  Mrs.  Nathaniel  Harris,  of  Bradford,  Pa.,  is  President,  has 
also  done  much  work  for  the  cause  and  has  contributed  money 
from  many  cities. 

Keeping  Track  of  the  Pennies. 

It  is  possible  to  trace  the  expenditure  of  every  dollar  that, 
up  to  the  present  time,  has  been  disbursed  and  to  learn  exactly 
whom  the  relief  has  reached.  And  what  do  we  find?  Not  gener¬ 
alities,  as  is  too  frequently  the  case  with  large  charitable  under¬ 
takings,  but  a  detailed  record  of  the  sums  sent  to  every  town  and 
hamlet  to  which  relief  has  gone  with  data  showing  how  much 
additional  relief  is  needed  to  meet  the  present  situation.  We 
find  more  than  this.  We  know  not  only  that  so  much  money 
reached  such  a  town  in  Poland,  in  Russia,  Lithuania,  Galicia, 
Palestine  or  elsewhere,  but  we  know  just  how  it  was  spent. 
For  instance,  how  much  was  used  for  soup,  how  much  for  bread, 
how  much  for  raiment,  how  much  for  fuel,  and  how  many  in- 


42 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


dividuals  were  benefited  thereby.  We  know  still  more  than 
this.  We  know  who  are  the  persons  thousands  of  miles  away 
who  have  handled  the  expenditure  of  the  funds  with  a  capacity 
and  zeal  equal  to  those  who  have  collected  the  money  on  this 
side  of  the  Atlantic. 

And  all  this  has  been  accomplished  at  a  total  cost  for  collec¬ 
tions  and  disbursements  of  less  than  three  per  cent. — less  than 
three  per  cent,  for  the  handling  of  funds,  now  past  the  eight 
million  dollar  mark — a  little  over  $200,000  for  every  expense, 
including  executives,  clerical  hire,  rent  of  offices,  postage,  cable 
charges,  propaganda. 

A  Single  Object  in  View. 

The  relief  has  been  given  with  but  a  single  eye  to  alleviat¬ 
ing  distress.  There  has  been  no  thought  of  the  nationality  of 
the  beneficiaries.  And  the  Entente  Allies,  no  less  than  the  Cen¬ 
tral  Empires,  have  recognized  the  impartiality,  the  thoroughly 
neutral  spirit  with  which  the  relief  work  has  been  executed — 
and  even  now,  with  the  United  States  engaged  in  the  war,  assur¬ 
ances  have  been  received  the  relief  work  will  be  permitted  to 
continue,  not  only  with  the  co-operation  of  this  government,  but 
with  that  of  all  parties  to  the  great  conflict. 

And  what  more !  The  same  vision  which  caused  American 
Jews  to  anticipate  the  need  for  relief  and  to  meet  that  need  as  one 
man,  has  already  caused  them  to  anticipate  the  day  of  peace, 
and  to  prepare  for  the  rehabilitation  of  their  people  in  Europe, 
once  the  war  shall  end. 

From  Dr.  Magnes  has  come  the  suggestion,  endorsed  not 
only  by  leading  members  of  his  own  race,  but  by  public  men  and 
financiers  among  non-Jews,  of  a  gigantic  loan,  a  loan  that 
may  reach  into  the  hundreds  of  millions,  to  be  made  to  the  Jews 
of  Europe  after  the  war.  The  money  advanced  is  not  even  to 
bear  interest.  The  plan  staggers  the  imagination,  for  the  loan  is 
to  be  made  without  security  other  than  the  “honor  of  the  Jewish 
race,  never  yet  dishonored,  to  repay  it,”  to  quote  Dr.  Magnes’ 
own  words. 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


43 


To  Build  a  New  Europe. 

It  is  his  belief  that  from  amid  the  ruins  of  the  battlefields  a 
new  Europe,  a  new  Poland,  a  new  Galicia  and  a  new  Lithuania 
may  be  builded  with  America’s  help.  He  is  convinced  that  if  the 
jews  are  given  sufficient  assistance  with  which  to  reconstruct 
their  homes  and  to  re-establish  themselves  in  business,  the  in¬ 
herent  thrift,  commercial  instinct  and  probity  of  the  race  will  be 
a  sufficient  guarantee  to  the  lenders  of  the  safety  of  their  princi¬ 
pal.  There  are,  he  points  out,  hundreds  and  thousands  of  Jews 
in  Europe  to  whom  the  ties  of  birthplace  are  as  strong  as  to  those 
born  in  America,  and  to  whom,  no  matter  how  far  their  fortunes 
might  be  advanced  by  coming  here,  were  that  possible,  the 
thought  of  leaving  the  places  of  their  birth  would  be  repugnant. 
It  is  for  such  as  these,  the  Jews  of  America  are  already  planning 
help  at  the  war’s  close — help  that  will  make  the  temporary  meas¬ 
ures  of  war  relief,  great  as  they  are,  seem  insignificant  by  com¬ 
parison. 

And  what  is  the  secret  of  these  achievements,  these  still 
more  wonderful  plans  for  the  future ;  what  is  the  lesson  to  be 
drawn  from  them? 

We  must  go  deep  into  the  Jewish  character  to  learn  the  an¬ 
swer.  The  plight  of  Belgium  has  appealed  with  much  force  to 
Americans.  Between  America  and  France  there  is  an  ancient 
bond  of  sympathy,  and  many  Americans,  by  ties  of  blood,  are 
deeply  attached  to  England  and  Germany.  Why,  then,  is  there 
such  a  discrepancy  between  the  individual  contributions  of  Jews 
and  non-Jews  for  the  sufferers  of  Europe? 

His  Brother’s  Keeper. 

The  Jew  feels  himself  not  abstractly,  but  literally,  his  broth¬ 
er’s  keeper.  Firmly  rooted  in  the  Jewish  character  are  religious 
teachings,  which  the  Jew  of  to-day,  no  less  than  his  forefather, 
feels  must  be  lived  up  to. 

To  the  American  Jew,  the  extending  of  assistance  has  not 
been  dictated  by  impulses  arising  from  national  origin;  the  Jew 
of  Russian  birth  or  extraction  has  given,  irrespective  of  whether 
his  money  was  to  be  used  to  succor  the  Jew  in  Russia,  the  Jew 
in  Poland,  or  the  Jew  in  Palestine.  He  has  given  because  he 
is  primarily  a  Jew,  and  his  brothers  and  sisters  of  the  race  have 


44 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


needed  his  aid.  It  is  this  characteristic  which  has  made  the  Jew, 
in  proportion  to  his  means,  munificent  in  his  giving,  in  compari¬ 
son  to  the  non-Jew.  For  the  Jew,  by  transplanting,  does  not  lose 
his  reverence  for  inherited  teachings.  While  he  may  assimilate 
American  customs,  manners  and  political  ideals, — becoming  as 
staunch  in  his  Americanism  as  any  other — he  remains,  never¬ 
theless,  always  a  Jew.  Through  the  centuries,  his  life  has  been 
dominated  by  Judaism  rather  than  Nationalism.  And  the  first 
teaching  of  Judaism  is  the  brotherhood  of  man — Gemiluth  Chasodim 
(Acts  of  Loving  Kindness). 

The  Jew,  inured  to  centuries  of  persecution,  of  suffering,  is, 
furthermore,  able  to  visualize  as  others  cannot,  the  conditions 
abroad.  The  Jewish  imagination  makes  real  the  word  picture, 
the  sufferings  felt  by  the  Jews  in  the  steppes  of  Russia;  the 
hunger  experienced  in  the  waste  towns  of  Poland  by  the  help¬ 
less  men,  women,  and  children ;  these  and  other  ravages  of  war 
the  Jew  in  America  can  grasp  with  a  vividness  impossible  to  a 
less  sensitive  and  emotional  nature. 

And  how  does  the  Jew  in  America  himself  regard  what  im¬ 
presses  those  who  are  non-Jews  as  a  remarkable  achievement, 
as  an  unusual  example  of  generosity  and  personal  sacrifice? 

But  the  Jew  Says,  “Not  Enough.” 

This  from  the  latest  appeal  circulated  by  the  Jews  among 
their  own  people  in  the  monthly  “Bulletin”  of  the  Joint  Distribu¬ 
tion  Committee,  illustrates  the  Jewish  mind,  the  Jewish  ideal  in 
such  an  emergency  as  the  present  as  perhaps  nothing  else  could : 

Have  American  Jews  become  callous  to  the  sufferings 
of  their  brothers  and  sisters,  fathers  and  mothers  in  the  War 
Zones? 

The  question  is  asked  in  all  sincerity. 

Certain  it  is  that  our  Jewry  seems,  in  a  large  measure, 
to  have  lost  sight  of  its  manifest  duty. 

Has  the  novelty  of  giving  worn  off  ? 

Does  any  Jew  feel  that  he  has  done  all  that  is  required 
of  him? 

Do  we  labor  under  the  delusion  that  the  urgency  of  the 
situation  is  less  acute  than  formerly;  that  less  help  is  needed; 
that  the  pangs  of  hunger  grow  fainter  with  time;  that  be- 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


45 


cause  more  have  died,  the  living  have  ceased  to  suffer  from 
cold,  from  starvation? 

If  there  is  any  such  delusion,  it  is  time  it  was  dispelled. 

And  yet  American  Jewry,  with  its  own  flesh  and  blood, 
involved  in  this  maelstrom  of  agony,  is  complacent,  self- 
satisfied,  enjoying  every  good  thing  that  money  can  buy, 
that  peace  and  plenty  can  provide.  In  every  city  in  our  land 
Jews  continue  to  enjoy  material  pleasures,  to  engage  in 
festivities,  to  stage  social  functions,  to  boast  of  the  pros¬ 
perity  that  is  theirs. 

God  of  our  Fathers! 

It  is  as  though  we  were  making  merry  in  a  funeral  house ! 

“The  Bulletin’s”  Rebuke. 

And  in  another  issue  of  “The  Bulletin,”  which  has  served  a 
most  useful  purpose  in  informing  the  Jews  of  the  country  of  the 
progress  of  relief  work,  under  the  title,  “In  War  or  in  Peace,  Who 
Carries  Your  Burden?”  this  appeared: 

The  entry  of  the  United  States  into  the  war  will  make 
even  more  pressing  than  formerly  the  need  of  succor  for 
the  unfortunate  Jews  in  every  land.  With  increasing  bit¬ 
terness,  increasing  hatred,  increasing  stress  among  the 
armed  forces  of  the  nations  drawn  into  the  vortex,  the 
suffering  among  the  non-combatants  is  bound  to  become 
greater,  the  supplies  of  food  and  clothing  which  can  be 
made  available  by  the  governments  involved,  except  for 
the  armed  forces,  to  grow  less. 

In  Russia  there  are,  to  be  sure,  great  hopes  for  the 
future,  but  the  future  is  not  the  present  and  political  free¬ 
dom,  either  now  or  in  the  future,  will  not  feed  the  starving 
at  this  moment. 

It  is  disgraceful  that  at  such  a  time  as  this  there 
should  be  so  many  among  us  who  have  not  seen  fit  to  do 
our  share.  This  is  all  very  well  for  weaklings,  but  unless 
willing  to  be  so  characterized,  willing  to  be  set  apart  and 
labeled  as  shirkers,  as  “slackers,”  to  be  known  as  persons, 
who,  understanding  our  duty,  still  fail  to  heed  the  dictates 
of  conscience,  none  can  afford  to  rest  under  this  stigma. 


46 


AMERICAN  JEWS  AND  THE  WAR 


Seek  out  the  shirkers,  pillory  them  before  the  com¬ 
munity,  compel  them  to  do  their  duty,  shame  them  into 
giving;  ostracize  them  if  they  will  not  heed  the  call  of 
distress  that  echoes  around  the  world. 

Let  Every  One  Do  His  Bit,  Give  His  Mite.  Out  with 
the  Shirkers!  Carry  Your  Own  Burden! 

Surely,  men  and  women,  but  a  mere  handful  compared  to  the 
population  of  the  United  States,  men  and  women  and  even  chil¬ 
dren  who  have  given  more  than  eight  millions  of  dollars  to  re¬ 
lieve  suffering,  who  seek  to  give  in  the  immediate  future 
$10,000,000  additional,  and  who  yet  revile  themselves  that  they 
have  not  given  enough,  that  they  are  selfish,  complacent;  surely 
this  is  not  the  Jew  some  have  pictured. 

No,  this  is  not  the  Jew  conjured  up  in  fiction  and  the  drama 
as  greedy,  grasping,  avaricious,  unscrupulous. 

This  is  the  real  Jew,  the  Jew  who  adheres  to  an  ancient  faith, 
but  who  lives  in  the  present ;  it  is  the  warm-hearted,  home-loving, 
sympathetic,  sacrificing  Jew;  the  Jew  who  has  made  real  the 
principle  of  the  brotherhood  of  man.  It  is,  in  short,  the  Jew  who 
makes  up  the  bulk  of  the  race  in  every  land. 

How,  we  ask  ourselves,  once  we  know  the  real  Jew,  could 
we  have  been  led  to  believe  he  was  otherwise? 


HOW  TO  GET  COPIES  OF  THIS 
BOOK 

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be  sent  postpaid  to  any  address  upon 
receipt  of  price,  15  cents  each.  Orders, 
accompanied  by  remittances,  should  be 
sent  to  Herbert  H.  Lehman,  Treasurer, 
joint  Distribution  Committee,  20  Ex¬ 
change  Place,  New  York  City,  or  may 
be  had  by  addressing  American,  Cen¬ 
tral  or  People’s  Committees  or  the 
authors,  John  W.  Schmidt  and  Crom¬ 
well  Childe,  32  Broadway,  New  York 
City. 


FROM  A.  A.  MOWBRAY 
OF  CHILDE  &  SCHMIDT. 


